------------------------- De Gea -------------------------
Carvajal ----- Sanchez ----- Laporte ----- A.Sandro
----------- Tolisso --- Busquets --- Rakitic -----------
Mbappe --------------- Aguero --------------- Neymar

Walton, Henrichs, Rabiot, Draxler, Bailey, Poulsen, Jesus

Cup Final day against a very resilient Wolves side, we must be at the top of our game so have gone as strong as we possibly can.
We want to play high tempo football with plenty of possession, no point in long balls with the lack of height up front so lets start from the back and play through them, and if not get it out quickly to our wide men, we have the players in the midfield to dictate this game today, quick one touch, triangles to get beyond the lines of defence

De Gea is an imposing figure between the sticks with excellent reflexes to make him a commanding shot-stopper and comfortable with the ball at his feet, out very quickly to shut down strikers and close there shooting angles down. Punches clear what he cant catch from high balls and likes to release early to set up quick counters.

Sanchez and Laporte at CB, Sanchez picks up the CF, Laporte sits spare, keep the forward(s) away from the danger area, by getting onto them quickly and be strong, take the ball away from them and play it away out of defence, no need to panic, look to move it simply to Busquets or our fullbacks as we look to start our attacks from deep. Carvajal and Sandro at fullback, we must keep the wingers quiet, stop them and we stop a lot of there attacks. Both are perfect for this, They will look to keep them away from shooting areas and stop them becoming dangerous in any position by standing tall against them and keeping them on there 'bad' foot. A lot of focus today is getting the ball wide, so both can attack, hence the three in midfield, they drive down the line in support of the wingers, Sandro gets outside Neymar to allow him to cut inside whereas Carvajal will support Mbappe by either pushing out wide or going inside to allow the winger to drive passed his man, but the two always make themselves available to the wingers. I want both CBs to go up for corners, with the fullbacks and Tolisso sitiing back.

Our midfield 3 are essential to our style of play, Busquets central sits a little deeper as he looks to pick up the ball from CBs or GK, a quick turn and head up he will look to get us moving with a ball either out wide to Carvajal/Sandro or a little further up to the wingers, if he is getting hounded down then he is physical enough to brush these players off him, having Tolisso and Rakitic alongside allows him the time as they shield him, they don't allow anyone to get on top of Busquets which gives him that extra second to get the ball moving. We can move very quickly from defence to attack, so if Wolves are up field and lose it then we can counter very quickly, like said Tolisso and Rakitic are vital in both defensive and attacking mode, they with Busquets shield our back 4 but when we are in control they will push just up ahead of Busquets to support the attack, they will at times receive the ball from the fullbacks so a quick pass back or ahead to the wingers, playing the ball in triangles to get round the opposition quickly will get them away from the Wolves fullbacks/midfielders. I want them to be a dominating midfield 3 in both defence and attack and work as a unit. Tolisso will be the one furthest up field to support Aguero , looking to get him in on goal or indeed have a go himself,

In Mbappe and Neymar we will look to push full/wing backs back up the pitch by pressing them, they have an abundance of pace for this, All I want them to do is get into the face of them, stop them breaking up the pitch and getting up to support their own forwards. When attacking they will have the support from Carvajal and Sandro as we look to have a real go down the flanks, Mbappe will play more of a 'winger' than Neymar so he will drive down the line with pace,(he is extremely quick) beating his man along the way, can use Tolisso and Carvajal as the three look to eventually get the ball into Aguero or Neymar driving in from the right. Neymar himself does all the fancy stuff, but it does tend to come off, so we allow him to be free today, with Sandro in support and Rakitic there making himself available like the right the left will be very dangerous, we need to use our pace to our advantage get beyond the fullbacks and drive into support Aguero. Must help the defence tho by tracking the fullbacks or wingbacks

We want a high tempo game from our midfield 5 if you want to call it that, passing and moving, getting it out wide to where we see our strengths, push them back wards, I want to press them back into there own half, they may well have possession but if its in there own half they wont cause us many problems.

Aguero will get plenty chances, he must put away there side who will be solid at the back, Get into positions that he can go for goal or at very least drag players away for other players to drive into the space. Target the slower of the cbs, they may be big and strong but with a low centre of gravity he can push passed them hopefully, split them apart to create space, we are quick, so our forwards must hit them with pace to drag them all over the place. He can score from various angles/ranges Can hold it up and look for runners, in particular Mbappe, Neymar and Tolisso, who will be making his runs also so be watchful of him just to lay it off to the side. But especially look for Neymar as he times his runs perfectly so a little touch back to him allows him to go for goal.If he cant go for goal he will look to bring others into the game with short passes or lay offs.

Captain - Busqueta
Penalties - Aguero/Neymar
Free Kicks - Busquets form deep, Neymar for goal
Corners - Wingers

Subs
Losing
70 Mins - Sandro and Rakitic off, Bailey and Jesus on, 3-4-3, Bailey to RW to use his pace as he cuts in on his stronger foot, Mbappe to LW, G.Jesus-Aguero-Neymar as a front 3
80 Mins - Poulsen for Aguero, we go long and high and look for Poulsen to win it in the air for those around him to pounce on
89 Mins - Sanchez up top as well, if we equalise, he goes back to CB

Winning -
70 Mins - Rakitic off, Rabiot on, fresh legs in the midfield, Bailey for Mbappe and he sits deeper as a winger to support Carvajal, Neymar must be more disciplined
85 Mins - Draxler for Neymar a flat midfield 5 to see it out

Drawing -
70 Mins - Jesus for Rakitic he will play just off Aguero 4-2-3-1
75 Mins - Bailey on for Mbappe more pace down that right hand side
85 Mins - Poulsen for Sandro 3-4-3, use the high ball if needed for Poulsen to win

BRIGHTON tactics to face Newcastle


INJURIES
Allan, Chris Smalling, Cedric Soares, Morgan Sanson, Juan Mata, Willian, Daniel Sturridge, Josip Brekalo


------------------------Navas------------------------
Valencia----Mustafi---Koscielny---Monreal---Rodriguez
----------Wilshere------Gueye------Dembele-----------
----------------Mandzukic-----Benzema----------------


BENCH
Cech
Matip
Payet
Schneiderlin
Lingard
Mkhitaryan
Welbeck

TACTICS
A lot of injuries this week makes it a challenge to send out a side, but we go on. It looks a defensive set-up against Newcastle and to an extent it is, but we will pose a threat on the counter.

DEFENSE
Expecting Newcastle to attack us quickly and in numbers, so it is crucial we have the numbers back in defense to deal with them.
They are missing two key attackers, so their attack won't be quite as potent but still a threat. Our back five should remain narrow, fairly deep so they can't get in behind. Allow their wingers the ball out wide, but don't let them cut inside.

We have plenty of legs in midfield, so look to be aggressive with them as they come forward, don't let them settle on the ball when they get into our half. Nainggolan and Coutinho must not be allowed a moment's peace.

ATTACK
When in possession, they will press us quickly. So, we need to play long balls upfield and aviod their pressure. Mandzukic and Benzema are both capable of winning aerial balls and holding up the play, which I want both of them to do. Back into their defenders, try to win niggly fouls as that is key.

Focus on playing crossfield balls, spread out as much as possible and make the pitch huge, so if they are going to press, they will be exhausted doing so. We have plenty of legs in midfield - two get forward at a time, one sits.

Valencia and Rodriguez should push up, stretch them out as their full backs can be got at. Get crosses in for the front two.

Set pieces will be a big opportunity, with our big physical side. Rodriguez to take most of them, get the centre backs forward.

SUBSTITUTIONS
If winning
70' - Lingard and Schneiderlin for a CM and ST. Straight swaps, fresh legs but Lingard to hit them on the counter attack.

If losing
70' Lingard and Mkhitaryan for Monreal and Wilshere. Move to a 4-4-2, look to hold onto the ball more and play quick possession football.

Attacking 3-4-2-1

At home we go to attack Pompey in a game we have to go for the win in, as we look for a big performance from our big players. We have added a cb in place of a cm, as we look to give our wbs freedom and attack down the wings to get at this Pompey side. We want to build from the back, five defenders in the side and Kante gives us a strong defensive platform, but is by no means a defensive side.

We look to spring a surprise on Pompey with this move, and by also by going with Costa up top. He brings fight to the team as we look to to play with a high tempo. He gets everyone going from the front and crucially his style of play as a focal point up top will also give more freedom to Asensio and Hazard to find get on the ball in space and dangerous areas. We feel this will be key to getting at this Pompey side. Target them out wide.

We want both wbs bombing forward in attack, their runs will be a key outlet as we look to attack down the wings. The wbs stretch the side, again to help create space for Hazard, Asensio in attacking areas.

We keep our attacking plan simple, attack down the wings, Thiago creating and getting our wbs and Asensio/Hazard linking up. Costa up top just plays his usual game, run around like a mad man, create openings for others and get in the box to get on the end of crosses and passes.


------------------- M.Neuer --------------------
---- Azpilicueta - Ramos - Romagnoli ------
D.Alves ---- Kante ---- Thiago.A --- Marcelo
------ M.Asensio -------------- E.Hazard -----
-------------------- D.Costa --------------------

Subs. Schmeichel, Odriozola, E.Can, Koke, Correa, James, Ronaldo

Romagnoli gets the nod as third cb, being a left footer he is key for ensuring we have balance defensively and brings composure to our play from the back. This helps when we narrow to the side of play, as Romag/Azpi will be able to come wide if we need to go back and they can spray the passes about accurately from the back.

Defensively, Ramos will look to man mark the most advanced striker, Romagnoli and Azpi are both strong readers of the game and this is important to ensure they cover if required and work together and deal with the other most advanced threat.

Kante is the most defensive of the midfielders, he looks to provide cover in front of the back 3. Reading the play and getting across to intercept and break any quick Pompey attacks. Thiago is in a more box to box role, his ability to defend strongly in deep areas will be importantly, but he will also be our main playmaker in midfield. Asensio/Hazard will also be looking to come deep and help in the build up play, and with our wbs we are not short of creativity.

Defensive shape

Defensively, if they have the ball central we look to get in a 3-4-2-1 formation with the two AMs more central, look to force the opposition wide. When the opposition have the ball in a wide area we drop into a 4-4-1-1 when the opposition.

On the side of play we are defending the opposite wb drops to fb, and the AM opposite the side of play drops into the middle four. The AM on the side of play takes a central position seeking to man mark their deeper cm. We then have two strong defensive lines behind the ball.

This gives us Romag or Azpi and a wb in front of them on the side of play we are defending. And ensures we get players back into defensive positions quickly on the side of play.

Centrally, Kante will always look to sit zonally in front of the cbs. Picking up any dangers that may arive in front of the cbs. Kante will press from a position next to Thiago, pressing the ball in the areas next to Kante and the wb on the side of play.

We leave Costa forward, split their cbs. Give us the option to find him in space and break quickly.

Attacking

We look to attack down the wings, attack down the wings. We want to attack at pace down the wings. We will counter where possible, but we have the quality to build patiently and control possession.

Use the strenth of our wbs going forward, get them running down the lines. Get them linking up with the AMs. Thiago always looking to get on the ball, spreading the play wide and creating. Kante sits.

Subs.
If winning after 60 mins bring on Ronaldo for Costa. Point to prove.
If winning after 70 mins bring on Koke for Alves. 4-5-1. Marcelo to lb, Azpi to lb. Look to control possession, tire the opposition out by having them chase us.
If winning after 78 mins bring on Can for Thiago. Strong defensive player, and pure power.

If drawing after 60 mins bring on Ronaldo for Costa. Point to prove after Costa has tired their cbs.
If drawing after 68 mins bring on Correa for Alves. Attacking 4-1-4-1. Kante dm, Azpi rb. With Correa rw.
If drawing after 75 mins bring on James for Asensio.

If losing after 45 mins bring on Ronaldo for Alves. 4-3-3. Azpi rb. Marcelo lb. Ronaldo right wing, Hazard left. Asensio AM.
If losing after 60 mins bring on Correa for Costa. Ronaldo central.
If losing after 70 mins bring on Koke for Marcelo. Attacking 3-3-4.

--------------------Buffom
Clyne----Sokratis----Inigo----Kurzawa
-----------------Wanyama
-------Strootman------Kovacic
Sterling-----------------------------Son
------------------Lacazette
Subs
Rulli, Retsos, Bertrand, Bender, Dahoud, Thauvin, Sanabria


Rulli is a commanding presence at the back, when he calls for a ball, the defence know he will take control of the situation, he and the defence have complete confidence in each other and stops those little split second doubts which could lead to a chance being conceded When he has the ball he will look to offload quickly in the direction of the front 3 to get those quick counters started.


Verthongen is the defensive leader and will be the one to set the defensive line on the pitch, both centre backs will stay back with either one of the full backs or the DM always prepared to make it a back 3 when we lose possession to stop counter attacks, Both CB"s will communicate with each other so they are clear in where the attacking threats are. When dealing with the opposition, we will avoid sliding tackles unless necessary instead looking to use our experience to just guide players off the ball. When on the ball, if the opposition are giving them space to come out with the ball, then they should take it forward, if not, keep it simple and play it to a man in space with the occasional long ball to the front 3 thrown in to keep the opposition from setting up against one style of play.




For the full backs today the objective is to sit back and tuck in slightly when defending, looking to stop balls being played between them and the centre backs, with the secondary advantage of discouraging the wide men from cutting inside, forcing them to cross, which gives us a better chance of getting the ball back quickly and launching an attack of our own.

 Their objective when attacking will be to keep making runs past the winger on both the inside and outside, giving the opposition full back that split second of indecision on who they go with. They will only occasionally put floated crosses in, preferring to either play shorter passes to the wingers or players who have come out from the middle of the pitch to keep possession and let the pressure build up in the final third, or run to the byline and put in fast and low crosses relying on both the faster reactions and control of our attackers and the pressure of the situation on their centre backs to hastily clear the ball without being in full control of the situation.


The focus of the midfield 3 will be to use their high energy, all action styles to get themselves around the middle of the pitch, working in collaboration with the front 3 to control the midfield battle whilst still having the attacking nous to create chances for us. When we are in the attacking third, they will always be looking to make themselves available for a pass to keep recycling the ball, keeping the pressure up with us looking to use the movement of the other CM's and the front 3 to drag the opposition defensive players that little bit more which could be the difference in getting a player behind them. They also all have an eye for a pass so will look to take advantage of the front 3 all flitting around and play them in with through balls and quick one touch play. We will also occasionally take the occasional long shot, with the aim being to make sure defenders aren't content to sit back and forcing them to make a decision. When defending, they are looking to press the middle third of the pitch, pressing the opposition CMs/Wingers in conjunction with other players as they are on the ball to rush their decisions and win the ball back.


Both wingers today will be looking will be to drift around when deeper players are in possession, looking to combine with the other attacking players to get little areas of space before using their pace and trickery respectively to drift between the CB and FB and get in behind them. When they are on the ball the emphasis will be more on cutting inside with the occasional long shot to test the keeper, and only occasionally putting in crosses, getting involved in a fast intricate style of passing with the centre mids and Lacazette, looking to create the passing triangles which will just take players out of the game. They should also look to run at players as they will be cautious not to give away a set piece due to the ability of our set piece takers. When the opposite winger has the ball, the one without the ball should look to find space between the CB and FB to add an extra body in the box. When defending, they should be stopping the passing lines to the full backs primarily, then focus on ensuring our full backs dont get outnumbered.



When Lacazette is attacking, he will look to constantly drift around the defenders looking to get himself a bit of space enough for him to get the ball and pass it along to another attacker or face up the defenders and take them on. When running onto a ball, He will also be looking to use his reactions to get ahead of the defender and then use his strength to cut in front of the defender, causing them to either stop their forward momentum completely, or make the foul.
When defending, he will be working with the wingers to cut off the passing lines for their CB's, forcing them or the keeper to launch it long, then using his tireless energy reserves to work back and press their centre mids.



Set Pieces


Corners - Kovacic takes the corners, most of the time looking to have the ball at an attackable height around 8-10 yards out between the posts, the FB's stay back to prevent counters, the CB's and Lacazette work in a group to make little blocks and cross-runs to lose a marker so 1 or 2 can get a run at the ball, Son and Sterling flit around away from the main attacking group looking to pounce on mistimed touches and flicks around the area. Wanayma looks to limit the opposition keeper from moving too far off his line, looking to take a defender with him to create less space for the keeper and one less man in the main action area. Strooty takes a position just outside the box to pick up weak clearances and go for the odd thundercunt, as well as occasionally providing the short option to try and draw 2 defenders out of the box.





Free Kicks - Son takes Direct FK's



For Indirect FK's, same instructions as Corners





Penalties - Lacazette is the designated taker.

Subs



If Winning


70 mins - Thauvin for Son - The wingers tuck back, but look to get out quickly and counter if the opposition over-commit for a route back into the game.




82 + 86 Mins - Bender for Kovacic and Bertrand for Kurzawa - Actively time waste and really frustrate the opposition.



If Drawing
70 Mins - Bender for Wanyama - Add a bit more urgency into attacks, show the opposition we are going for the win.

If Losing



67 Mins - Thauvin, Retsos and Sanabria for Wanyama, Bertrand and Clyne - switch to a 3-5-2 (Son ST, Sterling CAM,Thauvin RWB) with emphasis on the wings backs acting as wingers and just pile forward in numbers.

NEWCASTLE 4-3-3

Captain: Harry Kane
Penalties: Mo Salah
Corners: Miralem Pjanic
Freekicks: Miralem Pjanic
Crossing Freekick: Miralem Pjanic

—————————— Alisson
Trippier — Hummels — Koulibaly — Rose
————————— Pjanic
—————— Nainggolan — Coutinho
Salah ————————————————— Reus
——————————— Kane

SUBS: Sule, Milner, Jorginho, Casemiro, Ozil, Fekir, Firmino


We’ll press the opposition like Liverpool and win the ball as close to their goal as possible or move the ball up the pitch towards the opposition’s goal quickly. My 4-3-3 will overload his midfield and pin back his wing backs. We’ll use the quickness of our one touch, short passing game and using the pace & dribbling ability of the attacking players. However when the opposition get close to our box, we will revert to a defensive block to limit their chances. We defend and attack as a collective unit, limiting the space between the lines in which the opposition plays in.

We will start Pjanic in deep midfield to keep the ball rolling and take advantage of his penetrative passes.

When in attack we will get forward in numbers, using the footballing intelligence & movement of our attacking midfielders & striker to create passing angles and overloads in the opposition’s area of the pitch both out wide and in central zones, looking to drag the opposition’s players out of position and exploiting the space they leave open. When the opposition is using a deep defensive block to shut out our team we will use our fullbacks to create numbers out wide to stretch the opposition (this will be assisted by our CDM splitting the CBs wider allowing the FBs to move up the pitch) simultaneously using our wide-forward to cut inside to create overloads in the central areas giving us a number advantage. When creating chances from the wide areas with the FBs or WFs, we will send crosses in to feed the other forwards. Making runs behind the defence and beyond the striker is not prohibited by our attacking and central midfielders (minus CDM). There is a lot freedom in the movement of our attacking players. No player is restricted to a specific zone on the field or specific task. All four attackers (Coutinho, Salah, Mane, Kane) will either be provider or finisher with Nainggolan supporting and Casemiro sitting deep in midfield. Shooting from outside the box is encouraged. Our players will also press constantly from the front when we lose possession of the ball.

Offensive & Defensive Transitions:

This is the player's movements & reactions when moving between defence and attack, importantly the movement of the ball as this is arguably the most important aspect of our game. Winning the ball back when your opposition is disorganized is the perfect moment. We will aim for rapid movement up the pitch, with progressive passing to exploit the space left by the opposition. Whether it is from our defensive third of the pitch or whether we have won the ball back in our attacking third of the pitch we will exploit the disorganization of the opposition. We expect most of our attacking play will be as a result of our aggressive high press so we will use the following triggers for pressing the opponent:

1. The ball is played to a player facing his own goal

2. The ball is played to a player against the sidelines (using the sideline as an extra man in our favour)

3. A difficult bouncing ball is played to a player facing his own goal.

When any of these triggers happen, the players closest to the ball will press quickly and another 2 or 3 players will hold off slightly adding depth to the press and closing down their easy option pass. Once we win possession of the ball, we break in numbers again exploiting the opposition with either the pace of our attack. We also understand that we won't always get it right when pressing the opposition so we will employ a 10-second rule on pressing from the front after which, if we did not win back possession, we will revert to our defensive block. If we don’t win the ball after our initial phase of pressing it's imperative that the players work their way back into our defensive zone of the pitch and close the space that the opposition will look to play in. Close the space quickly and look to frustrate the opposition with intelligent positioning and hard tackling before winning the ball back and breaking forward at rapid speed. We will compact the central zones and force the opposition wide which limits the chances of breaking through our midfield. Long diagonal balls and quick releases from deep are encouraged when the opportunity arises. Our forwards have the pace to run onto through-balls.

We go into our defensive block if we cannot win the ball through our pressing. As a team we will defend deep in our half and close the space in the middle of the pitch. When forcing the opposition closer to the touchlines, we will use the touch line as an extra-man and press them so that we can win possession and result in us outnumbering them. If the play is on the left of the field the team will move towards the left and squeeze the space and vice versa on the right. We will try to force our opponents to play hopeful crosses into our box. If a cross is coming from their right our LB will also move into the box to help deal with crosses and vice versa if the cross is coming from the left. The midfielders will be around the box pressing the opponent should they try to play it central. Our wide forwards will help the midfield in closing the space in the centre and then proceed to help the fullback after we have moved the opponent towards the touchline. The wide-forwards are the real work horses in the team and I have 2 very good, hard-working wide-forwards. Our striker will also drop into our half to help the midfield press the opposition’s defence. Also the reasoning behind dropping the striker deep is to draw the opponent’s defence away from their goal creating ample space for us to counter attack.

Substitutions:

If winning after 80 mins bring on Casemiro for Coutinho. More physical presence in midfield, and gives greater defensive cover.

If drawing or losing after 65 mins bring on Ozil for Coutinho. Fresh creativity and legs.

If drawing or losing after 75 mins bring on Firmino for Pjanic. Nainggolan will press higher to win the ball back quickly. Firmino with more goal threat, plays up front with Kane, in a 4-4-2.

------------------------ De Gea ------------------------
Carvajal ----- Bonucci ---- Lenglet ----- A.Sandro
---------- Tolisso --- Busquets --- Draxler ----------
Mbappe ------------- S.Aguero ------------- Neymar

Butland, Henrichs, Sanchez, Rabiot, Bailey, Rashford, H.Aouar

We want to play high tempo football with plenty of possession, no point in long balls with the lack of height up front so lets start from the back and play through them, and if not get it out quickly to our wide men, we have the players in the midfield to dictate this game today, quick one touch, triangles to get beyond the lines of defence

De Gea is an imposing figure between the sticks with excellent reflexes to make him a commanding shot-stopper and comfortable with the ball at his feet, out very quickly to shut down strikers and close there shooting angles down. Punches clear what he cant catch from high balls and likes to release early to set up quick counters.

Bonucci and Lenglet at CB, Lenglet picks up the CF, Bonucci sits spare, keep the forward(s) away from the danger area, by getting onto them quickly and be strong, take the ball away from them and play it away out of defence, no need to panic, look to move it simply to Busquets or our fullbacks as we look to start our attacks from deep. Carvajal and Sandro at fullback, we must keep the wingers quiet, stop them and we stop a lot of there attacks. Both are perfect for this, They will look to keep them away from shooting areas and stop them becoming dangerous in any position by standing tall against them and keeping them on there 'bad' foot. A lot of focus today is getting the ball wide, so both can attack, hence the three in midfield, they drive down the line in support of the wingers, Sandro gets outside Neymar to allow him to cut inside whereas Carvajal will support Mbappe by either pushing out wide or going inside to allow the winger to drive passed his man, but the two always make themselves available to the wingers. I want both CBs to go up for corners, with the fullbacks and Busquets sitiing back.

Our midfield 3 are essential to our style of play, Busquets central sits a little deeper as he looks to pick up the ball from CBs or GK, a quick turn and head up he will look to get us moving with a ball either out wide to Carvajal/Sandro or a little further up to the wingers, if he is getting hounded down then he is physical enough to brush these players off him, having Tolisso and Draxler alongside allows him the time as they shield him, they don't allow anyone to get on top of Busquets which gives him that extra second to get the ball moving. We can move very quickly from defence to attack, so if Hull are up field and lose it then we can counter very quickly, like said Tolisso and Draxler are vital in both defensive and attacking mode, they with Busquets shield our back 4 but when we are in control they will push just up ahead of Busquets to support the attack, they will at times receive the ball from the fullbacks so a quick pass back or ahead to the wingers, playing the ball in triangles to get round the opposition quickly will get them away from the Hull fullbacks/midfielders. I want them to be a dominating midfield 3 in both defence and attack and work as a unit. Draxler will be the one furthest up field to support Aguero , looking to get him in on goal or indeed have a go himself,

In Mbappe and Neymar we will look to push full/wing backs back up the pitch by pressing them, they have an abundance of pace for this, All I want them to do is get into the face of them, stop them breaking up the pitch and getting up to support their own forwards. When attacking they will have the support from Carvajal and Sandro as we look to have a real go down the flanks, Mbappe will play more of a 'winger' than Neymar so he will drive down the line with pace,(he is extremely quick) beating his man along the way, can use Tolisso and Carvajal as the three look to eventually get the ball into Aguero or Neymar driving in from the right. Neymar himself does all the fancy stuff, but it does tend to come off, so we allow him to be free today, with Sandro in support and Draxler there making himself available like the right the left will be very dangerous, we need to use our pace to our advantage get beyond the fullbacks and drive into support Aguero. Must help the defence tho by tracking the fullbacks or wingbacks

We want a high tempo game from our midfield 5 if you want to call it that, passing and moving, getting it out wide to where we see our strengths, push them back wards, I want to press them back into there own half, they may well have possession but if its in there own half they wont cause us many problems.

Aguero will get plenty chances, he must put away there side who will be solid at the back, Get into positions that he can go for goal or at very least drag players away for other players to drive into the space. Target the slower of the cbs, they may be big and strong but with a low centre of gravity he can push passed them hopefully, split them apart to create space, we are quick, so our forwards must hit them with pace to drag them all over the place. He can score from various angles/ranges Can hold it up and look for runners, in particular Mbappe, Neymar and Draxler, who will be making his runs also so be watchful of him just to lay it off to the side. But especially look for Neymar as he times his runs perfectly so a little touch back to him allows him to go for goal.If he cant go for goal he will look to bring others into the game with short passes or lay offs.

Captain - Bonucci
Penalties - Aguero/Neymar
Free Kicks - Busquets form deep, Neymar for goal
Corners - Wingers

Subs
Losing
70 Mins - Bailey for Draxler, He goes to RW, Mbappe to LW and Neymar up top with Aguero 4-4-2
80 Mins - Rashford for Sandro 3-4-3 with Rashford going LW and Mbappe to the right of Aguero

Winning -
70 Mins - Rabiot for Draxler adds a bit of strength to our midfield
80 Mins - Bailey for Aguero he goes to RW and Mbappe up front his running will keep there defenders busy
87 Mins - Henrichs for Neymar go a flat 451

Drawing
70 Mins - Bailey for Mbappe, adds a lot of pace down that side
80 Mins - H.Aouar for Draxler try and break them down
85 Mins - Rashford for Sandro 3412 Aouar into a 10 Role, Rashford LW, Neymar up top we have to go for it in the final 5/6 mins

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS v Everton

Injuries: N'Zonzi, Musonda, Juanfran, Pastore, Cedric

----------------------- Leno
Sturaro - Savic - Mascherano - Hector
----------------------- Fred
------------ R Sanches - Gundogan
---------------------- Eriksen
--------- Aubameyang - Immobile

Subs: Begovic, Lascelles, Plattenhardt, Young, F Anderson, Sigurdsson, Falcao

-----------------

Changing it up today as we are at home in a winnable game, albeit against a vastly improved Everton side. Going with a 4-4-2 Diamond to clog up the midfield, utilise our attacking fullbacks, and still maintain a strong attacking presence.

In our 4-4-2 diamond, we have;

Leno in goal, Sturaro - Savic - Mascherano - Hector across the back four, Fred in front of the back four, Renato Sanches and Gundogan at CM, Eriksen at the top of the diamond behind Aubameyang and Immobile upfront.

This game is about controlling the tempo and giving us the best chance of getting the win today. Everton are strong and our best hope is to be strong, disciplined and keep our concentration levels at maximum.

Leno - Distribute from the back to the fullbacks/CM's, stay in communication with your defence throughout, be wary of long range efforts and ensure you stay big for any one on ones. On occasion go long for Aubameyang and Immobile.

Savic/Mascherano - Savic to mark their striker, force him high up the pitch thus limiting their impact close to goal, and Mascherano to be the spare man, be first to the second ball and their AM making runs from midfield. When in possession bring the ball out of defence and use the midfielders ahead of you to help us play out from the back. Savic go forward for setpieces.

Sturaro/Hector - Both of you to force the Everton wingers out wide, do not allow them to come inside as this will cause more problems for our midfield. They will want to cut inside so force them outside and block their crosses at source. They will try to create problems infield so its vital you only show them down the wing. If they play a diamond with no wingers you will need to form a narrow back four with the CB's and leave no spaces in behind. When we have possession, push forward and support Sanches and Gundogan in the middle of the park, you will provide the overlap to either create space or supply crosses into the area for Aubameyang/Immobile and link with Eriksen. You will need to track back very quickly to ensure we don't get caught on the break.

Fred - Your role is to break up play when Everton have the ball, frustrate their wingers cutting infield or their midfielders getting forward, when we have the ball link the play between the defence and midfielders, receive the ball to feet from Leno/Savic/Mascherano, and supply the ball to Sanches/Gundogan/Eriksen who will push forward. Excellent discipline required today.

Sanches/Gundogan - both playing the box to box role today, assist Fred in dealing with the Everton attack when we don't have the ball, be first to any loose balls, in possession link with each other and burst forward to join the front three on occasion, and bring the ball to create space for others. Look for Sturaro and Hector overlapping.

Eriksen - Playing at AM, with the trickery to beat the Everton DM and create chances, you will also have our fullback overlapping giving you the chance to cut inside and get shots in. Look to supply Aubameyang and Immobile with chances and also provide yourself with chances. Link up with Sanches/Gundogan, and capitalise on the space Aubameyang and Immobile's presence will create for you.

Aubameyang/Immobile - you will be expected to occupy the Everton centrebacks, hold up possession and look to turn the defender and shoot. Be strong in the air and look for your teammates trying to pick you out from deep. Shoot on sight. Stay on the last defender's shoulder for any passes in behind. Look to interchange with Eriksen and each other on occasion. Try and link with each other to create opportunities.

------------------

Subs 70 mins;
If winning: Immobile off, Lascelles on. 5-3-1-1, extra defender alongside Savic and Mascherano, Sanches and Gundogan drop either side of Fred, Eriksen behind Aubameyang. Absorb pressure and hit on the break.

If drawing: Sanches and Fred off, Young and Lascelles on. Change to 3-4-1-2, Lascelles to LCB with Savic and Mascherano, Young to RWB, with Hector moving to LWB, Sturaro and Gundogan in midfield with Eriksen behind Aubameyang and Immobile, push for the winner.

If losing: Fred, Sturaro and Sanches off, F Anderson, Sigurdsson and Falcao on. 3-1-3-3, Savic - Mascherano - Hector, Gundogan the playmaker, F Anderson - Eriksen - Sigurdsson behind Aubameyang, Immobile and Falcao upfront. Push for goals.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

————————Courtois
Conti———Skriniar——Umtiti———Gaya
——————Fabinho—Milinkovic
Brandt—————Dybala—————Lemar
———————Morata

Subs: Pope, Zagadou, Torreira, Tielemans, Bernardeschi, Sisto, Mariano

Captain: Fabinho
Corners: Julien Brandt/Thomas Lemar
Penalties: Fabinho
Free Kicks: Paulo Dybala/Fabinho

We look to dominate the game today and use an aggressive counter press to stop the opponents enjoying comfortable possession. Off the ball we divide our team into 5 hunters and 5 organisers, with the front 4 hunting alongside Milinkovic/FB depending where the ball is lost. The rest of the team set up behind the ball to crowd out the opposition forwards.

As soon as the opponent gets the ball they must be pounced upon, no time to take a breath and look for the best pass, we must win the ball as high up the field as possible and as quickly as we lose it. In order to not leave space behind the press we layer it as a 1-2-2, the man closest to the ball putting immediate pressure on the ball carrier with a 2-2 layer behind him, the first man limits time and space, the 2nd layer limits horizontal passing lanes and the third layer limits vertical passing lanes, boxing the opposition build up into as small a space as possible, via man marking of the passing options around him. When the ball move, the closest player is first to engage and the rest of the hunters set up around him. When we lose the ball centrally, Savic steps up to use his power in the press with the FBs pushing up the flanks to compact the field, staying close to the opposition wingers but also able to narrow in if Arsenal try to move forward centrally, whilst Fabinho and the CBs forming a triangle around their forward 2. If we press out wide, ball side FB steps into the press, DMs cover the central ground and the opposite side FB tucks in to form a back 3, block of 5 around their forward line.

If the press is beaten we fall back into a low block, DMs and Cbs stay parallel, wingers drop back into a midfield 4 and cover the flanks, FBs tuck in. Make it hard to pass through us and force them to commit extra players to the attack, either a FB or a DM and leave themselves more vulnerable to the counter. We want to target them when they commit a DM forward as this leaves them vulnerable to Dybala, creating a 1 v 1 in our advantage.

The rest of the team focus on keeping the central ground protected, keeping compact and forcing them wide, when one player receives the ball, our closest player steps out to put pressure on and hurry his pass whilst the rest of the team fall back behind play. Wait for them to overcommit and errors to happen. Skriniar comes in to defence to use his power up against Cavani, whilst Umtiti covers runners.

Going forward we look to create overloads in the opposition’s formation. The Cbs will support this style, both able to bring the ball out of defence and fire laser passes between the lines. This will serve to draw the opposition on to them and create a spare man in midfield, we want them to get the ball into the AMs as much as possible.

Fabinho will be disciplined, we don’t want him getting caught out of position, instead he looks to facilitate quick build ups and then stay behind possession to offer a 2nd passer for wall passes to drag the opposition forward and back. Milinkovic meanwhile will look to join the attacks when we move centrally, he has free roam to go about the pitch and link things up, acting as a true box to box midfielder, as well as adding a target for crosses.

When we attack centrally we look to use Milinkovic and Dybala as twin 10’s, occupying both of their DMs, looking to win their individual duals to help us overcome Arsenal. Morata will also drop deeper and look to get involved with the 10’s, quick one touch football, with our two wingers looking to pin their FBs to the touchline and again win the individual battles. Our FBs in these situations can narrow in to Fabinho and help him control play from deeper, either occupying opposition midfielders or finding space in the half spaces to get crosses in. Tucking them in can also help draw the opposition wingers infield and allow for a more direct route to the wingers to create 1 v 1s. Morata’s movement is key, coming deeper will mean that the CBs have no one to mark and have to decide whether to follow him and stop him having freedom to create or keep their position, usually they will stay closer to goal which makes creating chances in the 10 space easier, we instead look to get Dybala/Savic running off him, or the wingers making out to in runs as the furthest forward player to attack the box using their pace.

At times we go wide, FBs stretching out to provide width and our ball side winger taking up the half space, this way we can double up against their FBs, both of our FBs love getting forward and delivering dangerous crosses, and both or wingers are impossible to handle in the half space, their movement in field as the FB overlaps will either create space for the FBs run, or draw a marker from our 10’s, either way we win. Morata will be there to finish the attacks in the box.

Subs:

If Winning: Bernardeschi for Brandt 70’, stronger work rate. Torreira and Zagadou for Morata and Gaya, Savic to AM and Dybala up front, 75’.

If Drawing: Mariano for Morata 65’, more combative CF who can get amongst the CBs. Bernardeschi and Sisto for Brandt and Lemar 70’, take a more direct approach from the wingers, really attack their FBs as we look to break them down.

If Losing: Zagadou and Mariano for Gaya and Conti, 3-5-2 60’. Sisto for Brandt 70’, something different, use his direct running to take defenders out of the game and open up space for runners.

———————Woodman
———Zouma—-—Diop——Wober
Almamy—Diawara——Dendoncker———Jorge
————Gelson——Lukaku——B.Keita

Subs: Dragowski, Elvedi, Fornals, Laimer, Lo Celso, Oyarzabal, Schick

Captain: Leander Dendoncker
Corners: Gelson Martins
Free Kicks: Jorge/Gelson Martins
Penalties: Romelu Lukaku

Off the ball we are looking to make the most of our structures ability to suffocate space and make the opposition feel like they have limited time and space, without taking an aggressive approach to pressing and leaving ourselves open. The front three will be the first line of our defence, falling back towards our midfield line, with Lukaku on top of their deepest midfielder, using his physical presence to dissuade Birmingham from using him as an orchestrator for their attacks. The SS’s will drop behind and create a staggered 2-2 midfield, allowing us to overcrowd their midfield and make it difficult for them to pass through us. None of the front three need to be particularly good at tackling, they are simply their to fill space and make sure there’s no space within our defensive lines. The aim of this initial phase is to stop Birmingham trying to play through the middle and to force them out wide, by insuring that their CBs have no passing lanes open centrally, force them to use the FBs to build, both of whom a fairly slow.

Once they go wide this is where we can start to create triangles and diamonds within our shape to really suffocate the man on the ball, without breaking our structure. When the ball goes to the opposition FB it is the WB who steps forward and presses the space in front of the ball carrier, not allowing the FB to pass or run forward, with the ball side CM and SS stepping up behind to give the FB cover and close the diagonal passing lanes, whilst the wide CB steps forward to create the base of the diamond, sticking tight to the wide forward, both Zouma and Wober have pace but what they will have bags of over their opposition is physicality, so they must be strong, stand up to the wingers and bully them into going wide or giving the ball away. Use this diamond to suffocate the build up and make Birmingham feel like they have no where to go, with Lukaku always on the DM to stop him being an option to change the direction of the attack, make them go back to the CBs and lose valuable time. When one side is defending build up, the other side is dropped slightly deeper so that longer diagonal balls are easily crowded out, and if they go back to the CBs to switch side it means that when the opposite side push forward to press the other side has time to drop back in behind.

Whenever they have possession deep inside our half we drop into a 5-4-1, the back 5 allowing us to control the full width of the field and with spare men against their forwards, and the line of 4 allows to make things congested in the middle, with Gelson and Keita always tucked in by the CMs. Here we defend zonally both in midfield and defence, so Lukaku on the DM and then when a CM has it, our zonal CM steps up and forces him back or side, with SS’s and CMs dropping behind this CM to cover the space behind, and when they go wide, WB steps up to do the same whilst the midfield drop behind. When a forward gets the ball, our nearest CB/WB steps up to put pressure on, again forcing them sideways or backwards, whilst the rest of the defence drops back so we always have a back 4 behind the man pressuring the ball carrier.

Going forward we look to play with lots of pace on the counter, and key to this will be the WBs and SSs. As soon as we win it back we looking to transition to a front 5, our WBs pushing high up the field looking to maintain the width and stretch the opposition back line right across the field, stop their FBs being able to tuck in and help deal with our SS’s, if they do this they leave the flanks wide open and our WBs will take advantage, both fast and love driving into space, particularly Jorge who we will look to play through they do hold a narrow defensive line. The WBs aim is to link up with the SS’s, CMs and wide CBs to create quick interplay, beat the FBs out wide and whip in crosses, as well as making runs between FB and CB when the chance arises. This leaves the SS’s total freedom in attack, with no one to mark they they can pick the ball up in pockets of space and use their pace and trickery to drive at the defence, their job is to draw players towards them, which will pull defenders out of their natural positions and either beat them with trickery, or play the WBs/Lukaku into the space that opens up in their back line. Lukaku is their to use his physicality and movement, battle their CBs, attack crosses, and make runs into space.

Diawara and Dendoncker provide an energetic base in midfield, when we attack the ball side CM must be behind play at all times in order to step in and put immediate pressure on if we lose the ball, he will be supported by the ball side CB who will be aggressive when we lose the ball, looking to snuff out any counters particularly dominating the space behind the WB. Opposite CM is there to be a link man, if the attacks needs to switch sides he provides that outlet. This leaves the two remaining CBs behind to deal with the striker and keep him isolated.

Subs:

If Winning: Fornals for Gelson 70’, 3-5-2. Schick for Keita 75’, two powerful hold up players.

If Drawing: Oyarzabal for Keita 70’, like for like. Fornals for Dendoncker 75’, more adventurous. Schick for Lukaku 80’.

If Losing: Oyarzabal for Almamy 60’, more offensive wide player. Fornals and Lo Celso for Diawara and Wober 70’, Dendoncker to CB.

BRUM vs stoke

---------------------------Lafont--------------------------------
J Gomez-------Bailly----------Ake--------Alonso
------------------------------Matic--------------------------------------
--------------------Alli--------------Matuidi------------------------------
Mahrez------------------------------------------------Perisic
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------Gomez------------------------------------------

Subs - Batalla, Caricol, Brozovic, Arnautovic, Yarmolenko, Gnabry, Vardy

CAPTAIN - MATIC
CK'S - PERISIC
FK'S - PERISIC
PENALTIES - GOMEZ

Will play the 433 this week and focus on wing play by getting crosses into the box for Maximiliano Gomez to use his aerial abillity to score.

I want us to hold a deep defensive line to start of with so the oppo dont get an early goal. Keep things simple in the beginning and only pressure the oppo when they get in our half. When we have the ball I want the team to play pass and move football. Don't stay static, try and get in behind the oppo defence as there is a lot of pace in our attacking players. As the game goes on, when we don't have the ball I want the team to defend from the front line and pressure the oppo and try and win possession back. Do this in fits and bursts as it is a tiring tactic.

Defence
Lafont is a quality young keeper. Don't take risks. Punch the ball away if the shot is too powerful. Command your area. The defence is well balanced. Bailly and Ake bring a whole lot of experience and pace to the defence. Bailly will use his experience to marshal the defence and Ake will look to use his pace to close the oppo strikers down. Stay vocal with each other and cover for each other if oppo gets past one of you. Full backs will start of with a conservative mind set and not attack too much but as the game goes on I want them to make overlapping runs and get some crosses in to the box. Matic and Matuidi will be covering for them when they go attacking.

Defence Mid
Matic
Matic will be the anchor in the middle. Stay back in front of the defence and protect the defence with your life. If the oppo play an AM then stick close to him and mark him if possible. When our fullbacks are attacking then your main priority will be to cover for them. When in possession pass the ball out to the wings or play a through ball from deep to our strikers.

Centre Mids
Matuidi + Alli
Matuidi will play more as a b2b mid but will be able to help both in attack and defence as he has a lot of stsmina. He will be making run's forward and helping our attackers with quick passes and penetrating runs from deep. Alli will be playing CM on paper but his main role will be to help in attack. When not in possession of the ball Alli will look to close down the oppo DM's and win the ball off them. No need to stay to deep as Matuidi and Matic are adequate cover in the middle. When attacking I want Alli to make runs into the oppo box and bring others into the game. Play 1 2'swith the wingers and create space for yourself and your teammates. Shoot if you see an opening at goal.

Wingers
Mahrez + Perisic
Mahrez and Perisic are two quick wingers but with a sense of physicality to them. Moura is a technical player so I want him to take on the oppo left back and to make runs in behind him. Perisic is a tall lad and has the ability to use his strength to shrug off oppo defenders. Mahrez will look to cut in onto his stronger foot and whip in some crosses for Gomez. Perisic likewise although I want him to drift in more and play like an infield striker. I want you both to help track back and help the full backs when they are in our half of the pitch.

Striker
Maximiliano Gomez
Gomez will look to use his strength and aerial prowess to get the better of the oppo defence. Be vary of crosses from your teammates as you are an expert at scoring headers, and if you are through on goal, use your expert finishing to score. When we don't have possession of the ball I want you to drop deep and wait around the half way line for an opportunity to hit the oppo on the counter attack, in other words when we win the ball back from a deep position, we will play the long ball into you, and you will hold the ball up while our wingbacks gers make attacking runs upfield and play them through.

Subs if LOSING BY 65MINS
Put on Vardy for Matic and Yarmolenko for Mahrez to bring some more pace on. Play a high line and try and get a goal. Change formation to 41212.

--------------------------------Lafont--------------------------------
Gomez-------------Bailly-----------Ake-------------Alonso
--------------------------------Matuidi-------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yarmo----------------------------------------------------------Perisic
------------------------------------Alli------------------------------------
-------------------Vardy-----------------Gomez--------------------------


Subs if WINNING BY 80MINS
Take off Alli and put on Caricol in CB and play defensive with everyone in our own half defending for their lives, waiting to hit the oppo on the counter attack. Yarmolenko on for Mahrez and Arnautovic for Perisic to bring some much needed freshness in midfield.

-------------------------------Lafont--------------------------------
Gomez-------Bailly--------Ake--------Caricol-------Alonso
----------------------Matic----------Matuidi----------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------Yarmo---------------------------------Arnautovic---------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------Gomez----------------------------------------


Subs if DRAWING BY 65MINS
Vardy on for Gomez
Yarmolenko on for Mahrez
Brozovic on for Matuidi
Fresh legs to bring on.

RED CARD SCENARIO
If we get a red card then I want the team to play with a defensive mindset. Don't attack with too many players.

If my GK gets sent off, take off Mahrez and put on my backup keeper Batalla.
If any of the back 4 gets sent off, Matuidi will replace the sent off players position.
If any of the the CM's get sent off we will take off Mahrez and bring on Brozovic to fill in the sent off players position
If any of my wingers are sent off we will play Alli in the sent off players position
If my ST gets sent off bring on Vardy for Mahrez.

------------------------Lloris
Danilo-----Kompany----Llorente----Blind
----------------------Carvalho
------------Goretzka--------Ramsey
Callejon--------------------------------Costa
-----------------------Cavani

Pickford, Maitland-Niles, Veltman, Marcos Llorente, Malcolm, Aspas, Barkley

The team selected today should utilise their solidity and physical traits. It may not be a pretty style, but its one way to get a victory. I have picked people who I believe embody a mixture of solidity and energy throughout the team, allowing us to press and harass where necessary, but with some pace and energy to get in behind when going forward. We have physicality in our striker, pace and ingenuity in our wingers, a strong reliability in our defenders, and engines in midfield, who may not be the most glamorous, but know how to press in the middle, and can provide a threat when attacking the opposition penalty area, as well.

The defence is full of experienced and leaders. All five members are good at distributing the ball, and we will look to utilise this, playing the ball out through the back, via Carvalho if needs be. Danilo will be given license to go forward, and when he does, Blind will tuck inside, to make a back three, with Kompany covering the space vacated by Danilo. Carvalho will sit just in front of the defenders, never straying too far forwards, to dominate the space in between their midfield and attackers. He will patrol this are, picking up runs and passes, and going in hard where necessary. He is, however, a capable player on the ball, and when he picks it up he should either look for the run of Danilo, or look to spread the play to Callejon or Costa, who will both drop off to provide options.

The midfield and the attack typifies the industry that we intend to play with. I expect Callejon, Costa and Cavani to chase down the opposition at the back, and utilise their energy to this affect. As stated before, when Carvalho picks up the ball, the wingers will drop back into space to provide options, before running wide with the ball, and looking for Cavani, or the runs of Ramsey or Goretzka when putting balls into the box. This is where we expect to make the bulk of our chances. Callejon will also be boosted by Danilo making overlapping runs, and he can utilise these, allowing for us to double up on the opposition’s left sided defender.

The two central midfielders played today are both energetic, and will be used to chase down the opposition midfielders, harrying and harassing them, and not providing them any time on the ball to work any magic. Both will also provide runs into the box when the ball is out wide, to ensure that Cavani isn’t isolated, and to try and get numbers in the penalty area to pick up any second balls. They will then get harrying and harassing should the ball be lost, acting in a combative nature. When they pick up the ball themselves, they will look to drive forward at the opposition defence. Options should be provided out wide, and this should be their first place to look. They can, however, take shots at goal, should the opportunity arise.

With Cavani, I expect a physical game, pressing their centre backs into mistakes, and using his bags of energy to keep this going. I also expect him to win aerial duels, given his physical presence, and to create trouble in the penalty area when the ball is ready to be put in from the wide positions. I also expect him to be the main target for set pieces, along with Kompany and Llorente, who will both get forward.

Substitutions

If losing

Ramsey off, Barkley on 65 mins

Switch to a 4231 formation, with Barkley moving into an AM position, and Carvalho moving forward. The game will be played largely the same, but with Barkley given the freedom to find and utilise space in the midfield position, and look to create opportunities.

Callejon off, Malcolm on 70 mins

A fresh pair of legs on the right hand side. Malcolm is tricky and quick, and we will look to have him cutting inside and out, twisting their defenders blood, and getting into good attacking positions.

Danilo off, Aspas on 80 mins

A radical move. Switch to three at the back permanently, with Aspas joining Cavani up front, and playing off him, to get as many bodies in the box as we can.
If winning

Ramsey off, M Llorente on 70 mins

Llorente drops back to play alongside Carvalho in a 4213 formation. This gives us another body sitting just in front of the defence, and may help us take better control of the midfield areas.

Danilo off, Maitland-Niles on 75 mins

AMN will come on and play the role of a defensive full back, lacking the same adventurous spark as Danilo. He will sit as part of a flat back four, and provide fresh legs to deal with wingers.

Callejon off, Barkley on 85 mins

Push costa up front with Cavani, and play with a 4222 formation, getting as many men behind the ball as possible and then trying to hit them on the break.
If drawing

Callejon off, Malcolm on 65 mins

A fresh pair of legs on the right hand side. Malcolm is tricky and quick, and we will look to have him cutting inside and out, twisting their defenders blood, and getting into good attacking positions.

Cavani off, Aspas on 75 mins

A rest for Cavani, and fresh legs up front. Aspas will look to get in behind the opposition and create chances this way. He may lack the physical presence, but he still has energy, and a bit of pace to boot.

updated with red card

———————Woodman
———Zouma—-—Diop——Wober
Almamy—Diawara——Dendoncker———Jorge
————Gelson——Lukaku——B.Keita

Subs: Dragowski, Elvedi, Fornals, Laimer, Lo Celso, Oyarzabal, Schick

Captain: Leander Dendoncker
Corners: Gelson Martins
Free Kicks: Jorge/Gelson Martins
Penalties: Romelu Lukaku

Off the ball we are looking to make the most of our structures ability to suffocate space and make the opposition feel like they have limited time and space, without taking an aggressive approach to pressing and leaving ourselves open. The front three will be the first line of our defence, falling back towards our midfield line, with Lukaku on top of their deepest midfielder, using his physical presence to dissuade Birmingham from using him as an orchestrator for their attacks. The SS’s will drop behind and create a staggered 2-2 midfield, allowing us to overcrowd their midfield and make it difficult for them to pass through us. None of the front three need to be particularly good at tackling, they are simply their to fill space and make sure there’s no space within our defensive lines. The aim of this initial phase is to stop Birmingham trying to play through the middle and to force them out wide, by insuring that their CBs have no passing lanes open centrally, force them to use the FBs to build, both of whom a fairly slow.

Once they go wide this is where we can start to create triangles and diamonds within our shape to really suffocate the man on the ball, without breaking our structure. When the ball goes to the opposition FB it is the WB who steps forward and presses the space in front of the ball carrier, not allowing the FB to pass or run forward, with the ball side CM and SS stepping up behind to give the FB cover and close the diagonal passing lanes, whilst the wide CB steps forward to create the base of the diamond, sticking tight to the wide forward, both Zouma and Wober have pace but what they will have bags of over their opposition is physicality, so they must be strong, stand up to the wingers and bully them into going wide or giving the ball away. Use this diamond to suffocate the build up and make Birmingham feel like they have no where to go, with Lukaku always on the DM to stop him being an option to change the direction of the attack, make them go back to the CBs and lose valuable time. When one side is defending build up, the other side is dropped slightly deeper so that longer diagonal balls are easily crowded out, and if they go back to the CBs to switch side it means that when the opposite side push forward to press the other side has time to drop back in behind.

Whenever they have possession deep inside our half we drop into a 5-4-1, the back 5 allowing us to control the full width of the field and with spare men against their forwards, and the line of 4 allows to make things congested in the middle, with Gelson and Keita always tucked in by the CMs. Here we defend zonally both in midfield and defence, so Lukaku on the DM and then when a CM has it, our zonal CM steps up and forces him back or side, with SS’s and CMs dropping behind this CM to cover the space behind, and when they go wide, WB steps up to do the same whilst the midfield drop behind. When a forward gets the ball, our nearest CB/WB steps up to put pressure on, again forcing them sideways or backwards, whilst the rest of the defence drops back so we always have a back 4 behind the man pressuring the ball carrier.

Going forward we look to play with lots of pace on the counter, and key to this will be the WBs and SSs. As soon as we win it back we looking to transition to a front 5, our WBs pushing high up the field looking to maintain the width and stretch the opposition back line right across the field, stop their FBs being able to tuck in and help deal with our SS’s, if they do this they leave the flanks wide open and our WBs will take advantage, both fast and love driving into space, particularly Jorge who we will look to play through they do hold a narrow defensive line. The WBs aim is to link up with the SS’s, CMs and wide CBs to create quick interplay, beat the FBs out wide and whip in crosses, as well as making runs between FB and CB when the chance arises. This leaves the SS’s total freedom in attack, with no one to mark they they can pick the ball up in pockets of space and use their pace and trickery to drive at the defence, their job is to draw players towards them, which will pull defenders out of their natural positions and either beat them with trickery, or play the WBs/Lukaku into the space that opens up in their back line. Lukaku is their to use his physicality and movement, battle their CBs, attack crosses, and make runs into space.

Diawara and Dendoncker provide an energetic base in midfield, when we attack the ball side CM must be behind play at all times in order to step in and put immediate pressure on if we lose the ball, he will be supported by the ball side CB who will be aggressive when we lose the ball, looking to snuff out any counters particularly dominating the space behind the WB. Opposite CM is there to be a link man, if the attacks needs to switch sides he provides that outlet. This leaves the two remaining CBs behind to deal with the striker and keep him isolated.

Subs:

If Winning: Fornals for Gelson 70’, 3-5-2. Schick for Keita 75’, two powerful hold up players.

If Drawing: Oyarzabal for Keita 70’, like for like. Fornals for Dendoncker 75’, more adventurous. Schick for Lukaku 80’.

If Losing: Oyarzabal for Almamy 60’, more offensive wide player. Fornals and Lo Celso for Diawara and Wober 70’, Dendoncker to CB.

If red:

Woodman > Dragowski for Wober = 4-4-1
WB/CB > no sub, 4-4-1, Zouma and Wober can play RB/LB respectively
CM = Laimer for Wober = 4-4-1
Forward = Lo Celso for Woeber =4-4-1 (Keita/Lukaku up front)

Hull City

Overview of our 5-4-1 formation

-----------------------------------Horn
------------Pavard-------------Kempf---------Baumgartl
Weiser--------------------------------------------------------------Max
---------------------Ascacíbar-------------Rakitic
-----Lopes-------------------------------------------------Forsberg
-----------------------------------Selke

Subs: Pollersbeck, Klostermann, F. de Jong, Eiting, Kampl, Pjaca, Isak


Our defensive formation will rely heavily on the defensive abilities of our back-five. It consists of five defenders; three central defenders and two full-backs. In midfield, there will be two central midfielders and two wingers, while a lone striker completes the formation.

Stated in very simple terms, there are basically three ways to get past an opposition defence: a team can go around, through or over the top. Our system is designed to stop all those three from happening.

How it works

Our idea is to make it virtually impossible for the opposition to create chances in our defensive-third. Executed properly, it should force our opponents to take their goal attempts from 30-plus yards out, which is far enough for our highly gifted keeper to save most attempts.

Usually, teams have two central defenders but in this system there will is an extra defender who takes care of any loose balls and aerial threats, so attempting to create chances from crosses usually won’t yield anything for the opposition.

Our back-five will have much less distance between the defenders than a back-four, which makes it almost impossible to penetrate through the middle of that line. Since our back-five will drop to the edge of the 18-yard box, any balls played in behind will simply collected by Horn.

Since our defensive line is quite deep, our four midfielders will protect the remainder of the defensive third by seriously pressing for the ball just in front of the back-five.

When attacking, our side will morph into a 3-4-3 formation with our full-backs pushing into midfield to supply width in attacks, leaving three at the back. Our wide midfielders join the centre forward from the flanks, forming a front-three.

Aside from player errors, it is supposed to be almost impossible to score against a side set up in this manner because more than 95 per cent of goals come from the attempts in the final-third and the 5-4-1 formation packs nine outfield players into that third to prevent our opponent from creating any chances in that area.


Like any defensive formation, our players will be required to do a lot of hard work off the ball. Discipline is also essential because unnecessary movements can open up gaps and afford the opposition a chance to score.

Important things that I’ll be looking for are; defensive discipline from my two full backs, in midfield I’ll need Lopes, Ascacíbar, Rakitic and Forsberg to all work incredibly hard, whilst Selke will need to lead the attacks with intelligent movement and impressive ability to break our oppositions’ rhythm by holding the ball up to relieve pressure for his teammates

Subs on 65 mins – I’m expecting great demands from my players so fresh legs about half way through the 2nd half should keep the work levels high

Eiting on for Ascacíbar, Kampl on for Rakitic, Pjaca on for Lopes

--------------------------- Ederson
--------- Alderweireld -- Javi.M ---- Varane
K.Walker ------- Khedira ------ Verratti -------- Ghoulam
-------------------------- De Bruyne
--------------- Lewandowski -- Timo Werner

Subs: Meret, Tah, Mendy, Fernandinho, Ox, O.Dembele, A.Sanchez

3-4-1-2 - in good form and going in with a near full strength side. Set up to sit slightly deeper allowing Leicester to have possession at the back and thus conserving energy, however as they move into central areas we pack the midfield and defensive areas with bodies, nip in and pick them off when possible.

Gone in with a side full of players that will put a shift in down both ends of the pitch, from our attacking trio to Khedira and Verratti, who will buzz about all game and make their presence felt with their superior passing and tackling ability.

When we are in possession, Javi M moves into more of a CDM anchor role, use him as a passing outlet and make the opposition chase the ball, looking to create space.

Mix it up often looking to use Werner and Lewandowski as target men to bypass the oppositions press, looking to pick them off when they are attacking and can't regroup into their positional structure.

We don't want to play in congested midfield areas throughout the game, so our quick wing-backs are essential at times. allow us to play with real width, creating space in the middle and gaps in the opposition defence.

In terms of defensively, we sit slightly deeper to neutralise the pace of their forwards and get numbers back, De Bruyne comes deeper to form a midfield trio and press intensively in central areas, Werner joining Lewa in attack to press from the front.

3-4-1-2:
It starts from the back. Ederson is very able with his hands and feet and should look to find our players in space.

The CB trio are excellent on the ball, very good passing success rates and should look to move the ball into mf quickly. At times collecting short from Ederson and getting their heads up, looking for movement from the attackers and attempting diagonal or long balls into feet, using Lewandowski as a target man to bypass their mf.

Alderweireld & Varane should shift slightly wider when on the offense allowing our wing-backs to push up in a bank of 4 in mf.

Khedira & Verratti, a midfield pair that will provide plenty of energy and will work their socks off for the side to allow others around them to express themselves. They should look to stamp their authority with their work rate and power looking to take a grip on mf and shielding our defence, oppressing the opposition midfielders and covering every blade of grass out there.

When attacking, Khedira sits just infront of the defence and makes himself available for a pass back. A passing outlet if we are being vigorously pressed whilst also allowing us to create space when working the ball around in triangles, also prevent counter attacks.

De Bruyne has a free role in attack, generally will look to play inbetween the lines, roaming in the oppositions half and and looking to act as the link between midfield and attack. Picking up pockets of space and using his awareness to dictate the play, never afraid to play a key pass in behind to unlock their defence or drive from deep.

Flanks will be key as we look to expose them in wide areas and create space in midfield.

Two quick & powerful WG-backs in Walker and Ghoulam, need to hug the touchline and provide the width allowing us to stretch the opposition. Always on the move so we can get them in behind and use them as outlets going forward when picking a pass.

Very possession orientated, comfortable playing quick 1-2's and accelerating into space, overlapping often and getting early deliveries into the box for our striker/s to attack.

When Leicester are in possession we will initially look to press from front with our two strikers (Lewa + Werner) and then drop off deeper with men behind the ball if they bypass with a strong block of 5 in midfield.

Don’t allow them to play out from the back and hurry their passes. Our attackers form a duo looking to cut avenues into midfield as one goes to press the ball, force them into tight spots with their backs to goal towards the touchline.

The reason we want our front two to press is to force Leicester to play long and concede possession, we feel they lack any sort of aerial presence in the side so are less likely to win contested duels.

If they advance we then form a rigid structure looking to press the space and dropping off with men behind the ball, only allowing them to play where we want them too, stifle the midfield and stop them from picking their passes into an attacker, Khedira man-man their AM, looking to harass him and using his physical prowess to really put him off his game, Verratti and De Bruyne cutting off passing lanes.

Essentially a 3-5-2, 5 in mf working to minimise the space in midfield zones and preventing them from finding their attackers. Our wing-backs then drop off to mark the oppositions wingers and help our CB's to prevent any space being left in behind.

Key is leaving no gaps or space to get in behind, working as a staunch unit so their quick attackers have to come deeper to get involved making their first point of contact with the ball much deeper than they anticipated and notably further away from our final third.

When we have them deep we have more to work with, we can plug at them and tactically foul in areas that will prevent them from playing with any flow, breaking up the game.

If we manage to win the ball we must immediately look to counter and hit the opposition hard. Walker & Ghoulam can come up to support the play and provide the width. The front 3 burst forward.

Subs:
IF WINNING: 65th minute – (3-4-2-1)
- Fernandinho > Khedira
- O.Dembele > Werner
Compact 3-4-2-1, Fernandinho fresh legs in mf, O.Dembele replaces Werner and looks to get us driving forward with his pace and skill set.

IF DRAW: 75th minute – (3-4-3 - wide)
- A.Sanchez > De Bruyne
- O.Dembele > Werner
- Fernandinho > Khedira (80th min)
O.Dembele and A.Sanchez look to play as natural wingers in a 3-4-3. Fernandinho replaces Khiedra, high energy.

IF LOSING: 75th minute – (4-4-2 - direct)
- A.Sanchez > Javi.M
- Fernandinho > Verratti
- O.Dembele > De Bruyne
4-4-2, direct. long balls into the box and constantly looking for the two strikers.
Flood forward and look for an equalizer/winner.

C - Lewandowski
FK's - De Bruyne
Corners - De Bruyne/ Verratti
Pens – Lewandowski

BRIGHTON Tactics to face Liverpool
------------------------Navas------------------------
------Fernandes---Smalling--Matip------Monreal-------
--------------Dembele---------Allan------------------
------Willian----------Lingard-----Mkhitaryan--------
-----------------------Benzema-----------------------

BENCH
Cech
Koscielny
Rodriguez
Gueye
Wilshere
Sanson
Payet
Mandzukic


TACTICS
Going for a full strength team in our first FA Cup game against Liverpool. I want the players fired up for this one, treating this as if its the final. Difficult to predict a Liverpool line-up as they may make changes, which we need to be sharp against.

We should look to dominate possession against this Liverpool side, quick passes. Narrow back four out of possession to stifle their main threat, which we expect comes from the flanks.

DEFENSE
I want a narrow back four, we have four players there who are very good defensively. Guard the space rather than man-marking anyone.

Liverpool are dangerous on the flanks so I've selected two full backs who are very strong defensively. Make sure you have a step headstart in any race, and force their wingers onto their weaker foot.

Allan, Dembele and Lingard are all hardworking midfield players and should look to close them down quickly when they come into our half. Lingard in particular should stick to their deep-lying playmaker, don't let him settle on the ball. Dembele and Allan both have the physicality to outmuscle them.


ATTACK
Their first choice left back in Gaya is injured, so we know at least one weakened area for them. Willian should have their player on toast, look to start in a wide position and cut infield. This will help create the one-on-one situation which is what we want.

Overall our attack should be focussed on quick passing play, constant movement. In Mkhitaryan and Dembele we have two outstanding passers of the ball who can thread the eye of the needle pass.

Jesse Lingard has freedom, nominally an attacking midfielder but at times I want him running beyond the striker. Both him and Benzema have the intelligence to create space for one another. Drift wide where necessary, looking for space between their full back and centre back.

The full backs to be more defensive than is typical, with Dembele and Allan pushing on to support the attack.


SUBSTITUTIONS
If winning
60' - Wilshere for Lingard. Move to a 4-3-3
75' - Gueye for Allan - fresh legs
80' - Mandzukic for Benzema, hold up the play more as we focus on counter-attacking.

If losing
60' - Sanson for Allan, add creativity to the midfield.
70' - Mandzukic for Lingard, move to a 4-4-2.
70' - Rodriguez for Monreal, more attacking left back who should get forward at every opportunity.

Attacking 4-4-1-1

Attacking at pace and defending in a rigid unit. Playing an all-action energetic side as we look to attack down the wings and target Stoke''s flanks in attack. With Hazard getting in between the lines, linking with the wide men and Ronaldo.

Key to our game plan today is attacking quickly,down the wings, stretch the game. Two hardworking pacey wide players add to the energy and pace in the midfield 4, which will be key in attack and defence. Ndidi the dm, with Rafinha the hard working box to box adding some flair in cm.

Up top we have two players full of pace who will take the game to them. With Hazard in a free role in between the midfield and up front, looking to get the best out of him by allowing him to find space, getting involved as much as possible. Linking the play with the midfield 4 to create attacks and supporting Ronaldo.

This will allow us to get the best out of Ronaldo, have him focused on getting in the right positions in the box, getting in behind the cbs. Hazard will add a distraction as he will also look to get beyond the opposition back line finding gaps to run through,the link up of the two will give us an added element to our attack.

We primarily look to attack down the left, use the quality of Marcelo and his strong link up with Asensio.


--------------------- Neuer
Azpilicueta - Ramos – Otamendi - Marcelo
---------------- Ndidi --- Rafinha --------------
- A.Correa --------------------------- Asensio -
--------------------- Hazard
------------------- C.Ronaldo

Subs. Schmeichel, Odriozola, Stones, Koke, Thiago, Richarlison, D.Costa

Defending in numbers

We look to control the opposition by pressing the space with a narrow rigid defensive unit, only allowing them to play in areas we want them to.

We will be wary of the counter when we lose the ball. We drop into two lines of four, Ronaldo or Hazard look to close down the ball as soon as we lose it allowing the other players to get into shape. Hazard then drops to sit on their dm.

In this 4-4-1-1 formation, when the opposition go wide, the winger opposite to play comes narrow, giving us 3 central players and one wide player. Hazard a fourth central player simply sits on their dm, take the option away and be in a position to help us break quickly in between our midfield and Ronaldo.

In a narrow, rigid formation, we will look to press the space, not allowing them options. Draw them in to positions where they can’t hurt us, and then try and win the ball back. Then get forward quickly.

Of the 2 cms, Rafinha seeks to play diagonally ahead of Ndidi, pressing the ball, Ndidi always goal side of Rafinha. Slightly deeper pressing the space in a position to sweep in and clean up if they get past the first press. The free wide man can then come inside to help close the ball. This will make it difficult for Stoke to find space, force them to try and play in tight areas.

We don't leave much space between the lines. Two compact lines of four. Always looking to have 9 players behind the ball. Happy to defend deep, we look to get players behind the ball. They have players up top that have great pace and are good at getting in behind so we don't play a high line. Guard against the counter. This will give our attackers more to do when we win then ball and are attacking but we feel we have more than enough quality to create.

Attack.

We will be quite direct with our attacking play.

Attack down the wings,wingers and fbs doubling up on their fbs/wbs. Get Ronaldo in the box and get balls in the box for him. Hazard getting in between the wings.

By playing with width, we hope to create space for our strikers. Stretch the opposition, so Hazard can find space in between the lines and so both Hazard and Ronaldo can find space to get through on goal.

We are happy for our defenders and Neuer to switch play up and go long at times.

Quick one-twos in the opposition half going down the lines. We have great pace up top, so want to get them in behind. If not we are happy for our players to take them on.

Captain: Ramos
Subs.

If winning after 65 mins bring on Koke for Correa. Brings fresh energy.
If winning after 70 mins bring on Odriozola for Rafinha. Koke to cm. Odriozola rm. Pure pace to get at them.
If winning after 75 mins bring on Richarlison for Ronaldo. Pure power and pace to get at their tired defenders.

If drawing or losing after 60 mins bring on Costa for Correa. Asensio to rm, Hazard to lm. Costa up top.
If drawing or losing after 65 mins bring on Koke for Rafinha.
If drawing or losing after 70 mins bring on Thiago for Marcelo. 3-5-2. More creativity.

--------------------Buffom
Clyne----Sokratis----Vertonghen----Kurzawa
-----------------Bender
-------Strootman------Kovacic
Sterling-----------------------------Son
------------------Lacazette
Subs
Rulli, Inigo, Bertrand, Vecino, Dahoud, Thauvin, Inaki


Rulli is a commanding presence at the back, when he calls for a ball, the defence know he will take control of the situation, he and the defence have complete confidence in each other and stops those little split second doubts which could lead to a chance being conceded When he has the ball he will look to offload quickly in the direction of the front 3 to get those quick counters started.


Verthongen is the defensive leader and will be the one to set the defensive line on the pitch, both centre backs will stay back with either one of the full backs or the DM always prepared to make it a back 3 when we lose possession to stop counter attacks, Both CB"s will communicate with each other so they are clear in where the attacking threats are. When dealing with the opposition, we will avoid sliding tackles unless necessary instead looking to use our experience to just guide players off the ball. When on the ball, if the opposition are giving them space to come out with the ball, then they should take it forward, if not, keep it simple and play it to a man in space with the occasional long ball to the front 3 thrown in to keep the opposition from setting up against one style of play.




For the full backs today the objective is to sit back and tuck in slightly when defending, looking to stop balls being played between them and the centre backs, with the secondary advantage of discouraging the wide men from cutting inside, forcing them to cross, which gives us a better chance of getting the ball back quickly and launching an attack of our own.

 Their objective when attacking will be to keep making runs past the winger on both the inside and outside, giving the opposition full back that split second of indecision on who they go with. They will only occasionally put floated crosses in, preferring to either play shorter passes to the wingers or players who have come out from the middle of the pitch to keep possession and let the pressure build up in the final third, or run to the byline and put in fast and low crosses relying on both the faster reactions and control of our attackers and the pressure of the situation on their centre backs to hastily clear the ball without being in full control of the situation.


The focus of the midfield 3 will be to use their high energy, all action styles to get themselves around the middle of the pitch, working in collaboration with the front 3 to control the midfield battle whilst still having the attacking nous to create chances for us. When we are in the attacking third, they will always be looking to make themselves available for a pass to keep recycling the ball, keeping the pressure up with us looking to use the movement of the other CM's and the front 3 to drag the opposition defensive players that little bit more which could be the difference in getting a player behind them. They also all have an eye for a pass so will look to take advantage of the front 3 all flitting around and play them in with through balls and quick one touch play. We will also occasionally take the occasional long shot, with the aim being to make sure defenders aren't content to sit back and forcing them to make a decision. When defending, they are looking to press the middle third of the pitch, pressing the opposition CMs/Wingers in conjunction with other players as they are on the ball to rush their decisions and win the ball back.


Both wingers today will be looking will be to drift around when deeper players are in possession, looking to combine with the other attacking players to get little areas of space before using their pace and trickery respectively to drift between the CB and FB and get in behind them. When they are on the ball the emphasis will be more on cutting inside with the occasional long shot to test the keeper, and only occasionally putting in crosses, getting involved in a fast intricate style of passing with the centre mids and Lacazette, looking to create the passing triangles which will just take players out of the game. They should also look to run at players as they will be cautious not to give away a set piece due to the ability of our set piece takers. When the opposite winger has the ball, the one without the ball should look to find space between the CB and FB to add an extra body in the box. When defending, they should be stopping the passing lines to the full backs primarily, then focus on ensuring our full backs dont get outnumbered.



When Lacazette is attacking, he will look to constantly drift around the defenders looking to get himself a bit of space enough for him to get the ball and pass it along to another attacker or face up the defenders and take them on. When running onto a ball, He will also be looking to use his reactions to get ahead of the defender and then use his strength to cut in front of the defender, causing them to either stop their forward momentum completely, or make the foul.
When defending, he will be working with the wingers to cut off the passing lines for their CB's, forcing them or the keeper to launch it long, then using his tireless energy reserves to work back and press their centre mids.



Set Pieces


Corners - Kovacic takes the corners, most of the time looking to have the ball at an attackable height around 8-10 yards out between the posts, the FB's stay back to prevent counters, the CB's and Lacazette work in a group to make little blocks and cross-runs to lose a marker so 1 or 2 can get a run at the ball, Son and Sterling flit around away from the main attacking group looking to pounce on mistimed touches and flicks around the area. Bender looks to limit the opposition keeper from moving too far off his line, looking to take a defender with him to create less space for the keeper and one less man in the main action area. Strooty takes a position just outside the box to pick up weak clearances and go for the odd thundercunt, as well as occasionally providing the short option to try and draw 2 defenders out of the box.





Free Kicks - Son takes Direct FK's



For Indirect FK's, same instructions as Corners





Penalties - Lacazette is the designated taker.

Subs



If Winning


70 mins - Thauvin for Son - The wingers tuck back, but look to get out quickly and counter if the opposition over-commit for a route back into the game.




82 + 86 Mins - Dahoud for Kovacic and Bertrand for Kurzawa - Actively time waste and really frustrate the opposition.



If Drawing
70 Mins - Vecino for Bender - Add a bit more urgency into attacks, show the opposition we are going for the win.

If Losing



67 Mins - Thauvin, Retsos and Inaki for Wanyama, Bertrand and Clyne - switch to a 3-5-2 (Son ST, Sterling CAM,Thauvin LWB) with emphasis on the wings backs acting as wingers and just pile forward in numbers.

------------------------ De Gea --------------------------
Carvajal ----- Mukiele ----- Laporte ----- A.Sandro
---------- Tolisso ----- Rabiot ----- Pogba ------------
Bailey ---------------- G.Jesus ---------------- Coman

Butland, Sanchez, Tousart, Mbappe, Neymar, Foden, Poulsen


We want to play high tempo football with plenty of possession, no point in long balls with the lack of height up front so lets start from the back and play through them, and if not get it out quickly to our wide men, we have the players in the midfield to dictate this game today, quick one touch, triangles to get beyond the lines of defence

De Gea is an imposing figure between the sticks with excellent reflexes to make him a commanding shot-stopper and comfortable with the ball at his feet, out very quickly to shut down strikers and close there shooting angles down. Punches clear what he cant catch from high balls and likes to release early to set up quick counters.

Mukiele and Laporte at CB, Mukiele picks up the CF, Laporte sits spare, keep the forward(s) away from the danger area, by getting onto them quickly and be strong, take the ball away from them and play it away out of defence, no need to panic, look to move it simply to Rabiot or our fullbacks as we look to start our attacks from deep. Bothe are very comfortable on the ball so can bring it out when in no danger and look for the pass to get us moving forward. Carvajal and Sandro at fullback, we must keep the wingers quiet, stop them and we stop a lot of there attacks. Both are perfect for this, They will look to keep them away from shooting areas and stop them becoming dangerous in any position by standing tall against them and keeping them on there 'bad' foot. A lot of focus today is getting the ball wide, so both can attack, hence the three in midfield, they drive down the line in support of the wingers, Sandro gets outside Coman to allow him to cut inside whereas Carvajal will support Bailey by either pushing out wide or going inside to allow the winger to drive passed his man, but the two always make themselves available to the wingers. I want both CBs to go up for corners, with the fullbacks and Busquets sitiing back.

Our midfield 3 are essential to our style of play, Rabiot central sits a little deeper as he looks to pick up the ball from CBs or GK, a quick turn and head up he will look to get us moving with a ball either out wide to Carvajal/Sandro or a little further up to the wingers, if he is getting hounded down then he is physical enough to brush these players off him, having Tolisso and Pogba alongside allows him the time as they shield him, they don't allow anyone to get on top of Rabiot which gives him that extra second to get the ball moving. We can move very quickly from defence to attack, so if Brum are up field and lose it then we can counter very quickly, like said Tolisso and Pogba are vital in both defensive and attacking mode, they with Rabiot shield our back 4 but when we are in control they will push just up ahead of Rabiot to support the attack, they will at times receive the ball from the fullbacks so a quick pass back or ahead to the wingers, playing the ball in triangles to get round the opposition quickly will get them away from the Brum fullbacks/midfielders. I want them to be a dominating midfield 3 in both defence and attack and work as a unit. Pogba will be the one furthest up field to support Jesus, looking to get him in on goal or indeed have a go himself,

In Bailey and Coman we will look to push full/wing backs back up the pitch by pressing them, they have an abundance of pace for this, All I want them to do is get into the face of them, stop them breaking up the pitch and getting up to support their own forwards. When attacking they will have the support from Carvajal and Sandro as we look to have a real go down the flanks, Bailey will play more of a 'winger' than Coman so he will drive down the line with pace,(he is extremely quick) beating his man along the way, can use Tolisso and Carvajal as the three look to eventually get the ball into Jesus or Coman driving in from the left. Coman himself does all the fancy stuff, he will dribble passed players and cut inside, so we allow him to be free today, with Sandro in support and Pogba there making himself available like the right the left will be very dangerous, we need to use our pace to our advantage get beyond the fullbacks and drive into support Jesus. They have so much pace and are versatile up front then they can interchange at any time Must help the defence tho by tracking the fullbacks or wingbacks

We want a high tempo game from our midfield 5 if you want to call it that, passing and moving, getting it out wide to where we see our strengths, push them back wards, I want to press them back into there own half, they may well have possession but if its in there own half they wont cause us many problems.

Jesus will get plenty chances, he must put away there side who will be solid at the back, Get into positions that he can go for goal or at very least drag players away for other players to drive into the space. Target the slower of the cbs, they may be big and strong but with a low centre of gravity he can push passed them hopefully, split them apart to create space, we are quick, so our forwards must hit them with pace to drag them all over the place. He can score from various angles/ranges Can hold it up and look for runners, in particular Bailey, Coman and Pogba, who will be making his runs also so be watchful of him just to lay it off to the side. But especially look for Bailey as he times his runs perfectly so a little touch back to him allows him to go for goal.If he cant go for goal he will look to bring others into the game with short passes or lay offs.

Captain - Laporte
Penalties - Jesus/Neymar
Free Kicks - Pogba
Corners - Wingers

Losing -
65 Mins - Pogba to No.10 and Neymar on for Coman
75 Mins - Mbappe for Bailey
80 Mins - Poulsen for Pogba we go 343 with a front 3 of Jesus-Poulsen-Neymar and Sandro on the LM, we can go high and long looking for Poulsen to win the high balls and going for goal ofr knocking back to Mbappe, Jesus and Neymar

Winning -
70 Mins - Tousart for Pogba, he adds some punch to our midfield and help shut down new fresh players
80 Mins - Poulsen for Jesus, hold it up etc
85 Mins - Mbappe for Coman, run at everything don't give them time on the ball

Drawing -
65 Mins - Mbappe and Neymar for Bailey and Coman, fresh legs
75 Mins - Foden for Pogba, go to No.10 and see if he can make the break through and set the front three up

——————————Pope
Fabinho---—Lindelof———Umtiti———Zinchenko
——————————Torreira
Lemar———Dybala—————Milinkovic———Philipp
——————————Mariano

Subs: Svilar, R.Pereira, Zagadou, A.Maier, Tielemans, Brandt, Morata

Captain: Fabinho
Free Kicks: Paulo Dybala/Fabinho
Penalties: Fabinho
Corners: Thomas Lemar

Control the game today, moving the ball quickly to manipulate the opponent. We put heavy emphasis on strong position play, creating positional superiority to overload Brighton, particularly in midfield. We build attacks in a 2-3-2-3. Firstly we drop players deep in build up, CBs splitting to the edge of the area, and Torreira dropping to the edge of the D, becoming the register between the first and second lines of the opponents press, either forcing first line back, or drawing the 2nd line forward to create more room behind. Secondly, we bring the FBs infield, both are fantastically versatile players and will largely take up position just ahead of Torreira in the half spaces, this should act to force the opposition press narrow and open up direct routes to the wingers, where we can get the ball forward quickly and they can then combine with the twin 10’s. If Brighton’s wingers don’t narrow it means an overload in midfield which will force their deeper midfielders forward and create more space for Dybala and Milinkovic, the latter who can be used as a target man between the lines to beat the press.

As we progress into their half we can continue to transition between 3-2-3-2 and 2-3-2-3, maintaining a strong triangular structure through which we can move our opponents. The inverted FBs are key today as they can widen and narrow as the game plays out, stretching wide to find space to link with the winger, but also maintaining a strong midfield 3 with Torreira through which we dictate play, and allow Dybala and Milinkovic to roam free between the lines. Having two players like Fabinho and Zinchenko who can do this will be essential as both have ability to create from deep, either with crossing or intricate passing, which means that even if their defenders cope with our 10’s, their forwards have to stay switched on to our FBs movement throughout, particularly when they make underlapping runs into the channels. Torreira remains between them at all times to provide the passing option to move the opposition back and forth.

Dybala and Milinkovic have total freedom in attack, they can drift wide and create triangles through which to overload the opposition FBs working with our wingers and FBs, they can drop deep in build up to drag their markers forward and open space behind, and they can push on in support of Mariano. Usual tactic will be to build up down one side, have the 10 move towards the wing and open space up for the second 10 infield. The front three occupy the opposition back line, the wingers looking to keep the FBs pegged back and keep them in a 1 v 1 battle, keep them pushed back so they can’t help their midfield. Lemar looks to be direct and link up quickly, run at defenders, where as Philipp will look to play between FB and CB and will often be the furthest forward, using his pace to get in behind and into the box to finish chances. Mariano comes in for his energy and bulldog style, battle the CBs, hold play up and score some goals.

When we lose it we counterpress with 5 defensive organisers, and 5 hunters. The hunters press immediately, don’t allow the opponents time to decide how they will transition. Man for man pressing in triangles. The CF will look to press the ball side CB, using his cover shadow to block t’other CB, whilst the wingers press the FB/DM depending on the side they’re on. Behind them Dybala/Milinkovic pushes onto the deep midfielders, essentially this creates a diamond around the ball allowing us to really squeeze the opponents ball carrier and win it back quickly. It also leaves a midfield 3 and two CBs to form the organisers block, maintaining our control of the midfield. We do this when we lose it and when Brighton build from goal kicks. The aim is to win it quickly or hurry them long.

The organisers will be pushed close to our offensive line in order to retain strong vertical compactness to add to the opponents difficulty in playing through us. The 5 create a staggered 2-3 bowl shape, allowing us to form a block around their forwards. This should create a 5 vs 3 in our favour meaning that even if a forward gets hold of the ball, we have the numbers around him to win it back quickly, be it from knock downs or a striker looking to use his pace. Focus firstly on blocking passing lanes behind the press, and then squeezing opponents if they get it forward.

When they have sustained possession defend in a 4-2-3-1 with vertical and horizontal compactness, deeper lines looking to force them to play in tight spaces.

Subs:

If Winning: Zagadou for Zinchenko 70’, more defensively focused LB. R.Pereira for Philipp 75’, Lemar LM, Pereira RM, more defensive minded player, fresh legs to keep pressing too. Maier for Mariano 80’, Dybala up front, Maier into midfield to keep possession controlled.

If Drawing: Morata for Mariano 70’, different type of striker for the opposition to deal with. R.Pereira for Torreira 75’, Fabinho to DM and R.Pereira to start overlapping out wide. Brandt for Milinkovic 80’, total football against a tired defence.

If Losing: Zagadou for Zinchenko 60’, 3-2-3-2, Fabinho into midfield alongside Torreira, Dybala will go up front with Mariano. Morata for Torreira 70’, Milinkovic into CM and Morata up front, Dybala behind the strikers. Brandt for Philipp 80’.

——————————Rico
———Zouma——-Gangnon——Wober
Almamy————Dendoncker——————Jorge
——————Soler————Jankto
—————————B.Keita
————————Lukaku

Subs: Woodman, Elvedi, Lo Celso, Laimer, Oyarzabal, Neres, B.Traore

Captain: Sergio Rico
Free Kicks: Jorge/Jakub Jankto
Corners: Jorge
Penalties: Romelu Lukaku

We will look to defend in a very compact manner, concentrating on making them come central where we will have greater numbers and control, not allowing them to use the pace of their wingers in wider areas, make them play where its congested. We use the energy of our front two and shuttlers to do this. Whenever Leicester have the ball with a CB I want Lukaku pressing him and Keita dropping to cover the passing lane to the FB and if from there they look to switch sides through the CBs, the ball side CM will step up and press the ball carrier with Lukaku coming across and Keita able to drop into midfield to retain our 3 vs 3. The aim is to force them to move into our half by using their CMs rather than their FBs, which allows us to keep a very narrow and compact 5-3-2 shape. From here the forwards must drop back and look to put pressure on the Leicester CMs from behind, whilst our two CMs can work to put pressure on from the front, Soler and Jankto with bags of energy to be constantly in their face, Dendoncker shielding the defence. Like this we should create a 4 v 3 in the central midfield ground and equally stop Leicester using their CBs further forward as our forwards work to close of passing lanes with their pressuring runs.

This will then allow the rest of the team to function zonally and put pressure on anyone that carries the ball in their zones. Dendoncker focuses on any Newcastle forward dropping between the lines to link play, or any CM stepping forward to provide overloads in the final third, focus on stopping them having any space in front of our back line. The back 5 zonal press also, which will allow us to control the width of the pitch, any quick switches of play are negated with a 5 man backline as our WBs are able to cut them out. If a player enters one of the defenders zones they look to go out to them and put them under pressure whilst the rest of the defence drop back so that players can’t run in behind us, force Leicester back into the midfield area with this press before dropping back into the 5 and allowing the next defend.er/our midfielders to go and win the ball. We have a difficult task defending this Leicester team but by remaining compact we can limit the space to use their pace, and most importantly we must stand up the them, never dive in. In particular this is important for the WBs, they must stand up to the opposition wingers and slow them down, allowing or outer CMs to come across and double up to help stop the FB combining with their wingers. When this happens Keita will look to drop in front of the DM to allow Dendoncker and the remaining CM to remain 2 v 1 on Newcastle’s advanced CM. Zouma and Wober will be particularly key today, we want them to remain in their zone, if Leicesters wingers/SS’s stretch out then let the CM go and help the WB, keep your own position so that they cannot then run in behind. If their wingers drop deeper but remain in your zone and they have their back to goal when receiving the ball, go and win it back and launch a counter.

Going forward we must break with real pace and purpose. The CBs can start these counters, all 3 are excellent passers of the ball and if at any stage Leicester drop off them they can act as our playmakers and look to split the lines with driven passes in to the CMs and Keita. When Leicester do press high then we must exploit the space behind their forwards and behind their CMs. Build up in a 2-3-2-3, Dendoncker dropping next to Gagnon and Zouma and Wober stretching right out pushing forward in line with Soler. By doing this we can a. give their front three much more space to press and b. get Soler between the first and second line of defence. This then allows us to direct our play, Dendoncker and Gagnon to dictate and Zouma and Wober to give Leicester a decision on who to press, if they press them it means Dendoncker and Gagnon go 2 v 1 and easily progress the ball, if they focus on pressing central space, Zouma and Wober become free and will have easy access to the WBs and half spaces. Soler then between the first two lines acts a 2nd passer for wall passes with the deeper two drawing Leicesters CMs on to him. Jankto and Keita further forward will look to both position themselves in the half spaces, creating diagonal passing lanes between the lines for the CBs to find them. When a Leicester CM pushes forward into the press Jankto or Keita will drop into the vacant 6 space and the other can then make a 3rd man run so if his team mate receives the ball and draws the deepest CM, he can run behind him.

Once we get into their half we must use clever movement and rotations to unlock Leicester. Our WBs will hold a mid line in the opposition half, give the opposition FBs a decision of whether to push up or stay deeper and cover space behind. If they stay deep, our WBs become a good base to establish possession and find the half space players, if they push up, the half space players have a great chance to run in behind and drag the CBs into uncomfortable positions. We have a 3 man midfield to give us control so that when Leicester press the other two, one will always be free to run off the ball and join the attack, this is usually going to be Jankto with his powerful running but Soler is more than capable too. Keita has a free role in attack to get the best out of him, at times he goes towards ball side and overloads play with Jankto and Jorge who can overlap and underlap, and at other times he allows the midfield 3 to overload play on one side of the field and looks to take up position in the underloaded half space, knowing that we can use Almamy’s height to switch things and work one two’s between himself and Keita. Other times he’s working with Lukaku and occupying the CBs, when one drops deep, the other must run behind, push the defence both ways in a search to create space between them. When Keita drops deep Jankto will also run the other way to get into the box and use his physicality. Lukaku runs the lines and poaches in the box.

Sbs:

If Winning: Laimer for Jankto 70’. Lo Celso for Keita 75’.

If Drawing: Lo Celso for Jankto 70’. Neres for Keita 75’.

If Losing: Neres for Wober 60’, 4-3-3. Lo Celso and Oyarzabal for Jankto and Soler 70’, 4-2-3-1

NEWCASTLE 4-3-3

Captain: Harry Kane
Penalties: Mo Salah
Corners: Miralem Pjanic
Freekicks: Miralem Pjanic
Crossing Freekick: Miralem Pjanic

—————————— Chesney
Trippier — Hummels — Koulibaly — Tierney
————————— Pjanic
—————— Nainggolan — Coutinho
Salah ————————————————— Mane
——————————— Suarez

SUBS: Sule, Milner, Jorginho, Casemiro, Ozil, Fekir, Kane


We’ll press the opposition like Liverpool and win the ball as close to their goal as possible or move the ball up the pitch towards the opposition’s goal quickly. My 4-3-3 will overload his midfield and pin back his wing backs. We’ll use the quickness of our one touch, short passing game and using the pace & dribbling ability of the attacking players. However when the opposition get close to our box, we will revert to a defensive block to limit their chances. We defend and attack as a collective unit, limiting the space between the lines in which the opposition plays in.

We will start Pjanic in deep midfield to keep the ball rolling and take advantage of his penetrative passes.

When in attack we will get forward in numbers, using the footballing intelligence & movement of our attacking midfielders & striker to create passing angles and overloads in the opposition’s area of the pitch both out wide and in central zones, looking to drag the opposition’s players out of position and exploiting the space they leave open. When the opposition is using a deep defensive block to shut out our team we will use our fullbacks to create numbers out wide to stretch the opposition (this will be assisted by our CDM splitting the CBs wider allowing the FBs to move up the pitch) simultaneously using our wide-forward to cut inside to create overloads in the central areas giving us a number advantage. When creating chances from the wide areas with the FBs or WFs, we will send crosses in to feed the other forwards. Making runs behind the defence and beyond the striker is not prohibited by our attacking and central midfielders (minus CDM). There is a lot freedom in the movement of our attacking players. No player is restricted to a specific zone on the field or specific task. All four attackers (Coutinho, Salah, Mane, Suarez) will either be provider or finisher with Nainggolan supporting and Casemiro sitting deep in midfield. Shooting from outside the box is encouraged. Our players will also press constantly from the front when we lose possession of the ball.

Offensive & Defensive Transitions:

This is the player's movements & reactions when moving between defence and attack, importantly the movement of the ball as this is arguably the most important aspect of our game. Winning the ball back when your opposition is disorganized is the perfect moment. We will aim for rapid movement up the pitch, with progressive passing to exploit the space left by the opposition. Whether it is from our defensive third of the pitch or whether we have won the ball back in our attacking third of the pitch we will exploit the disorganization of the opposition. We expect most of our attacking play will be as a result of our aggressive high press so we will use the following triggers for pressing the opponent:

1. The ball is played to a player facing his own goal

2. The ball is played to a player against the sidelines (using the sideline as an extra man in our favour)

3. A difficult bouncing ball is played to a player facing his own goal.

When any of these triggers happen, the players closest to the ball will press quickly and another 2 or 3 players will hold off slightly adding depth to the press and closing down their easy option pass. Once we win possession of the ball, we break in numbers again exploiting the opposition with either the pace of our attack. We also understand that we won't always get it right when pressing the opposition so we will employ a 10-second rule on pressing from the front after which, if we did not win back possession, we will revert to our defensive block. If we don’t win the ball after our initial phase of pressing it's imperative that the players work their way back into our defensive zone of the pitch and close the space that the opposition will look to play in. Close the space quickly and look to frustrate the opposition with intelligent positioning and hard tackling before winning the ball back and breaking forward at rapid speed. We will compact the central zones and force the opposition wide which limits the chances of breaking through our midfield. Long diagonal balls and quick releases from deep are encouraged when the opportunity arises. Our forwards have the pace to run onto through-balls.

We go into our defensive block if we cannot win the ball through our pressing. As a team we will defend deep in our half and close the space in the middle of the pitch. When forcing the opposition closer to the touchlines, we will use the touch line as an extra-man and press them so that we can win possession and result in us outnumbering them. If the play is on the left of the field the team will move towards the left and squeeze the space and vice versa on the right. We will try to force our opponents to play hopeful crosses into our box. If a cross is coming from their right our LB will also move into the box to help deal with crosses and vice versa if the cross is coming from the left. The midfielders will be around the box pressing the opponent should they try to play it central. Our wide forwards will help the midfield in closing the space in the centre and then proceed to help the fullback after we have moved the opponent towards the touchline. The wide-forwards are the real work horses in the team and I have 2 very good, hard-working wide-forwards. Our striker will also drop into our half to help the midfield press the opposition’s defence. Also the reasoning behind dropping the striker deep is to draw the opponent’s defence away from their goal creating ample space for us to counter attack.

Substitutions:

If winning after 80 mins bring on Jorginho for Coutinho. More physical presence in midfield, and gives greater defensive cover.

If drawing or losing after 65 mins bring on Ozil for Coutinho. Fresh creativity and legs.

If drawing or losing after 75 mins bring on Kane for Pjanic. Nainggolan will press higher to win the ball back quickly. Kane with more goal threat, plays up front with Suarez, in a 4-4-2.

----------------------Horn
Weiser----Pavard-----Kempf------Max
---------------Eiting------Rakitic
Lopes-------------Zivkovic---------Forsberg
-----------------------Milik

Subs: Pollersbeck, Klostermann, F. de Jong, Ascacíbar, Kampl, Younes, Selke


Our defensive unit consists of Benjamin Pavard and Marc-Oliver Kempf paired up at centre-back, Mitchell Weiser at right-back and Philipp Max at left-back, with Carel Eiting and Ivan Rakitic as our midfield ‘double pivot’ screening them.

This ‘double pivot’ is the key to our team and in Eiting and Rakitic we have a perfect pairing to initiate attacks by distributing the ball in an intelligent fashion, to be key players in circulation and to prevent dangerous opposition attacks, being disciplined in positioning and limiting space in between the lines.

The strength of our double pivot is that Rakitic can press the ball without leaving lots of space, as Eiting can maintain a good position to react if the initial press is bypassed. Our double pivot will offer huge defensive stability and will ensure that a structured shape is maintained.

Having two defensive midfielders centrally prevents others being dragged out of position to press.

Helping the defenders maintain solid positioning is a key part of Rakitic’s role, he will press almost anywhere in his own half to allow defenders to stay in the defensive line.

With Rakitic running his socks off for the team, our high tempo will dictated by his partner in holding midfield, Carel Eiting.

A holding midfielder through and through, Eiting is not just your “win the ball and pass it on to the closest player” – there is a real creative mind in his locker, but it’s his ability to be the shield of the back four and then be creative once he gets the ball that makes Eiting such a talent.

The attacking unit consists of Rony Lopes, Andrija Zivkovic and Emil Forsberg as our band of three attacking midfielders with Arkadiusz Milik as our lone central striker.

Our 4-2-3-1 is set up to have that wonderful ‘springy' quality - it absorbs pressure without breaking and then snaps back with surprising force.

In defence our 4-2-3-1 covers space very effectively, with the band of three attacking midfielders and centre forward able to press the opposition high up the pitch while the two defensive midfielders ensure that there is no space left in front of the defence. Then the back four can either play a high line, compressing the space even further, or drop deeper as preferred.

Once we have won the ball back, often by Eiting or Rakitic, then our 4-2-3-1 can spring into attack.

Weiser and Max can surge up the wings in the knowledge that Eiting and Rakitic can drop into the space left behind if needed. As they come up the wings, both Rony Lopes and Emil Forsberg, who are fast speed merchants, excellent in tight spaces and fantastic dribblers will cut inside or make runs into the box. Andrija Zivkovic our attacking central midfielder’s low centre of gravity will enable him to navigate away from defenders at a frighteningly quick pace. Zivkovic is blessed with an instant first touch and can dribble with the ball at such a close proximity to his feet that it makes him almost impossible to tackle this creative passer who will look to play Lopes, Forsberg and Milik in via fast passing combinations.

Milik is predominantly an old-style centre forward, however he does possess the technical qualities and versatility to shine in this game. He’ll be physically imposing and not only will he be a threat in the air, but he can also score via great volleys. We’ll look towards his wonderful finishing and passing ability and he’ll also display good positioning and teamwork, and won’t be afraid to help his team defend.

Subs on 75 mins
Ascacíbar on for Eiting, Younes on for Forsberg

BRUM vs Chelsea

------------------------------Lafont--------------------------------
Sidibe------------TFM-------------Rice-----------Caricol
------------------------------Matuidi---------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karamoh--------------------------------------------Leandrinho
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------Mahrez----Vardy---Promes----------------

Subs - Batalla, Maguire, Winks, Ruiz, Davies, Walcott, Gnabry

CAPTAIN - VARDY
FREE KICKS - MAHREZ
CORNER KICKS - MAHREZ
PENALTIES - VARDY

Trying a new formation in the cup this week. We will be focusing our play through the wings in this 433ish formation.

Defence
I want the defenders to play a very high line. Try and play the offside trap to get the oppo players offside. Rice and TFM will mark the oppo striker/s, while the fullbacks will stop the oppo wingers. I want TFM to get right up to the oppo striker and use his physical strength to psych him out. Fullbacks start off with a conservative mind set and not attack too much but as the game goes on attack more.

Defence Mid
Matuidi
You will cover any gaps left by the fullbacks when they are attacking. Also when the oppo AM has the ball, close him down and put a tackle in. Pass the ball forward quickly if you win possession of the ball back.

Wingers
Karamoh + Leandrinho
The wingers will look to get to the byline and whip in crosses for our attackers, who will be waiting in the oppo area. Also they will help the fullbacks in defending duties against oppo wingers. As soon as we win the ball back from deep I want these 2 to dribble from deep using their pace to get away from oppo challenges. Help Mahrez and Leandrinho by making overlapping runs to pull the oppo fullbacks towards you so they have more space to attack.

Inside Forwards
Mahrez + Promes
These 2 will look to drift inwards and try and find spaces between the oppo CB's and Fullbacks. Cut in onto your stronger foot and shoot of you can. Play through balls for Vardy to get onto.

Strike
Vardy
Vardy will look to play off of the shoulders off the oppo CB'a. Use your pace to get away from them.

Subs 70 MINS
Davies ON Leandrinho OFF
Gnabry ON Promes OFF
Walcott ON Mahrez OFF

Tottenham Hotspur v Hull City

--------------—- A.McCarthy ------------—-
------ Boateng -- Van Dijk -- Rudiger ----
---------- Kondogbia --- Vidal -------------
- A.Robben ----— B.Silva ------- L.Sane -
--------—- Batshuayi -- Balotelli ----------

Subs:
Bellerin, Cancelo, Wendell, Guerreiro, Modric, Martial, Icardi

Captain: van Dijk
Free Kicks: Robben
Penalties: Balotelli
Corners: B.Silva

Team Tactics:

We go with a 3-5-2 as we look to take the game to our opponents, pressing them high up the pitch, forcing turnovers in dangerous areas as we put their players under pressure when in possession and hit them with our array of attacking threats.

We freshen things up with 7 changes to last weeks starting lineup. A numbe of players with a point to prove and a chance to stake their claim for a spot in the starting lineup for the remaining weeks of the season.

When in possession we look to play quick passes, our transition from defence to attack will be swift as we get the ball to our central midfielders to dictate the play. Silva in the hole has license to roam whilst our wide players push forward from the flanks. Up top we go with Batshuayi alongside Balotelli, they will be key in our attack as they occupy the oppositions central defenders as we look to pin them back. The pace of Sane and Robben will be an increased threat from the flanks, both will track back when not in possession however they have license to get forward when we are on the ball comfortable in the knowledge that we have three top class CB’s patrolling our defence.

When the opposition are in possession – we drop into a 5-3-2 formation, our wingers dropping deep behind the ball with Bernardo dropping into a midfield three making it increasingly difficult for the opposition to play through us. We sit deep and do not allow any space in behind, drawing the opposition onto us which will create plenty of space which we will look to exploit with a swift counter attack.

Individual responsibilities:

Goalkeeper – McCarthy getting his chance to shine and a solid shot stopper. He will dominate the box, come for the ball and commanding on set pieces. We look to start attacks from the back, distributing to our CB’s or if the opposition press we take advantage of this by spraying the ball out wide, immediately bypassing the press and putting us on the front foot.

Centre Backs – We go with a back three today. All offering a very physical commanding presence all three offering superb pace and athleticism which will be integral in eliminating the threat posed by the pace of the opposition. VVD will play through the middle and pick up the striker, sticking tight and giving no room to manoeuvre. Boateng and Rudiger will offer cover for any balls in behind and support to the wingers, dropping into the space out wide when we are on the attack, eliminating the space for a potential counter attack.

Wingers – They will both form part of our attacking arsenal as we look to overwhelm our opponents. They will be key attacking outlets as we look to widen the pitch and stretch our opponents. Both have fantastic work rate and the ability to track back however we expect them to cause real danger going forward. They are encouraged to drive forward taking on opponent. Robben will look to cut inside and get a shot away at any opportunity. Sane will look to carry the ball in possession, whipping crosses in for the forwards to attack whilst also utilising his superb dribbling ability to drive to the byline and cut the ball back for one of Batshuayi or Balotelli to finish.

Central Midfield – Kondogbia and Vidal will form a double pivot in midfield. They offer a strong physical presence and tasked with breaking up the oppositions play. We will look to overpower them in the middle of the park, winning the midfield battle will allow us to dictate the play. Kondogbia will sit as a DM whilst Vidal plays the box to box role. With Silva slightly ahead of them in the AM role these three will be key in retaining possession and creating chances for our forwards. Quick slick passing will move their counterparts out of position, we will make them continually chase the ball and all three have the ability to open them up should the opposition choose to sit deep. B.Silva will be slightly more advanced, sitting in the hole behind the strikers and dropping in to pockets of space making him difficult to pick up.

Forwards – We play two up top as we go for goals, the pace, power and movement offered by these two will cause the opposition problems. Both will attack the box looking to get on the end of crosses and put away any chances that fall their way. With plenty of creativity in behind them we fancy them to have plenty of opportunities. Both are accomplished finishers and with the likes of Vidal, Robben, Bernardo and Sane supplying the ammunition we will be aiming for goals.

Subs 65 mins;

If winning: Robben and Balotelli off. Wendell and Cancelo on. We go 5-4-1, Cancelo drops to RB, Wendell to LB we play a solid back 5, forming a brick wall in front of our goal. B.Silva and Sane drop to the flanks offering increased defensive cover in a 4 man midfield with Batshuayi the lone man up top. We make ourselves compact and difficult to play through as we see the game out.

If drawing: Robben and Kondogbia off, Martial and Modric on. Increased pace and creativity with Martial bringing a new threat from the flanks whilst Modric brings increased creativity through the middle as we look to carve out a winner.

If losing: Kondogbia, Rudiger and Robben off, Modric, Martial and Icardi on. We go all guns blazing with Icardi, Balotelli and Batshuayi in a front three. Vidal, Modric and B.Silva form a creative trio in the middle with Martial and Sane pushing forward from the flanks as we go for goals.